Our lives in Clichés
by reig
Summary: A collection of oneshots that I've come up with for the Fifth Swan Queen Week.
1. Bedsharing

**Hi everyone! This is my very first time participating in Swan Queen week and truly I'm a bit (and when I say bit I mean A LOT) nervous about posting this thing but, eh whatever...I really hope you'll like it! :) Thank you for reading!**

 _Disclaimer: Nothing is mine and I do not profit from posting this._

* * *

 **SWAN QUEEN WEEK**

* * *

 _Day 1- Bedsharing_

It was family vacation time. Their very first one at that and watching Henry bounce happily towards the entrance of the hotel, Regina only felt a slight wave of annoyance at the prospect of having to the spend a whole week practically locked together with the Charmings. Even though since the second curse her relationship with them had greatly improved, she still couldn't help but find it hard to resist some witty remarks or an occasional eyeroll here and now.

She followed the rest of the group through the wide glass front doors and up to the desk where David was already taking charge and dealing with checking in. Snow next to him with a smile on her face, clutching little Neal's hand, who was now three years old. Regina couldn't hold back the tiniest of smiles of her own as she glanced down at the little boy with messy light brown hair and eyes as green as his sister's. He looked around enthusiastically, staring at Henry longingly when the older boy went ahead to the elevators.

The doors opened behind her and as she turned she caught sight of the only person missing from this odd family of theirs, the blonde haired other mother of her son. Emma, for lack of a better word, staggered inside, loaded with bags and suitcases, flashing her a grin as she paused beside her and dumped everything on the floor with a relieved sigh.

"Well I don't believe we left anything at home, to be honest. Seriously Regina, how many shoes have you packed?" she teased, eyeing the Major's huge luggage.

"Well forgive me, dear, for not wearing the same sneakers all summer long..." she shot back with a pointed look to said shoes on Emma's foot.

"Hey now, I also brought flip flops!" the blonde argued, making Regina roll her eyes.

She grabbed the handle of her suitcase and pulled it along as she strolled up to the desk as well and waited for David to finish up.

"Alright, Regina, Emma you'll have room 107. And Snow and I will take the one that has a shared door with the boys' room so we can keep an eye on Neal if neccessary. They're all on the same corridor though, we're 105 and the boys are 104." he said, handing each woman a key and giving the rest to his wife.

"Let's go up then." Snow proposed excitedly and they all made their way to meet Henry at the elevator.

Soon enough they walked along the first floor corridor, the two boys a few steps ahead of the adults, checking out the door numbers in order to find their rooms.

"102,103... it's here. 104!" Henry exclaimed gleefully while Neal jumped up and down a few times.

"Alright, Henry here's one of the keys. Don't lose it or lock yourselves into the room, please. Though I'm gonna keep the other one with me. Just in case." Snow said, the perfect image of an experienced teacher.

"Thanks Grandma! Come on Neal!" Henry grabbed the key and quickly opened the door.

Regina resisted the urge to go in after him and take care that everything was alright. He was old enough after all... So she just took a glance inside as she passed by, smiling as she saw her son flopping down on a bed and laying back with a huge grin on his face.

When he first brought up the idea of a family vacation with the Charmings, her initial reaction was something along the lines of _Hell no!_ But of course she knew that would disappoint him deeply so she put on a brave face and simply chuckled, saying maybe Snow and David and especially Emma wouldn't want to spend their holidays with her. When he said they told him to invite her she couldn't say no anymore so she agreed. The happy smile and the bone crushing hug he gave her then and seeing how delighted he looked now made it all worth it though.

She went on, passing 105 and 106 without a second glance and paused in front of number 107. She opened the door and in confident strides, she entered.

Then halted right in the middle of the room in shock.

"No. Absolutely not." she said to the empty room then turned around to leave only to bump into the one Sheriff Swan she was supposed to sharing this room with.

"Fleeing already, Regina?" Emma teased with a smirk, standing in the way with her bag so she couldn't exit.

"I'm not doing this, Miss Swan. I'm not sharing a bed with you." she said firmly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"What?" Emma asked, moving past her to get a better look. „Oooh" Regina heard before the blonde's laughter reached her ears.

"Might I ask, what's so hilarious for you?" She asked in annoyance as she went to stand next to Emma.

"This. You and me and only one bed in our room." Emma said then snickered again.

"There's no 'our' room and you better stop acting like a child, I told you I'm not sharing a bed. You should go down to reception and tell them there's been a mistake, ask for another room." she told the other woman, grabbing her suitcase and putting it on the bed. When Emma didn't move she looked at her and added "Well, go on." dismissively.

"What? No, that's ridiculous Regina. You want another room, you go and request one." Emma said stubbornly then she sat down on the bed and reached for the Tv remote on the nightstand.

"Miss Swan..." the brunette growled warningly.

"Regina, I'm not moving." Emma muttered, eyes already glued to some stupid thing on the Tv and all Regina could do was huff loudly and stomp out of the room.

She made her way down to the reception and met the friendly smile of the girl behind the desk with an icy glare.

"Can... Can I help you with anything. Ma'am?" she asked, stuttering a bit at the sight of rage in the brunette's eyes.

"Yes. I would like to have another room." she snapped the key down on the marble desktop.

"May I ask what's wrong with your current one?" the girl asked, composing herself and getting professional again.

"There's only one bed." Regina hissed.

"Yes ma'am, a double bed, for two people." the girl nodded.

"Well I wish to have another room or a room with two single beds, please."

"I'm afraid that's not possible." the girl shook her head, looking truly apologetic.

"What do you mean not possible?"

"I mean that room is the only one available at the moment. We're completely booked for this weekend. Maybe on Monday I can get you another one, I believe we'll be able to work something out once someone leaves." the girl offered, her eyes almost pleading Regina to back down.

She gritted her teeth but knew there was no reason to torture this poor receptionist. So she nodded and grabbed her key and walked back to the elevator.

A few minutes later she stormed into the room again, where Emma- unfazed by the whole situation- sat crossed legged on the bed and watched some show.

"Get your feet off the bed." she ordered as she let the door slam behind her and walked to her suitcase.

The blonde rolled her eyes but uncrossed her legs and shut off the Tv, looking at her instead.

"So, I'm guessing no room change, then?" she asked in an almost cheeky tone as she watched Regina start to unpack.

"No. So you better look for the most comfortable spot on that carpet over there because as I said, I'm not sharing the bed." Regina said, carefully putting her perfectly folded clothes into the wardrobe.

"What? You can't be serious!" Emma protested.

"I'm dead serious, dear." she stated as she grabbed another pile of clothes and made her way back to the wardrobe. "How much space do you need in here? A shelf? Two?" she asked.

"Oh no, I'm not unpacking. Not really my thing." Emma shook her head.

"Yes, could have guessed so..." Regina murmured then shrugged. "More space for me, then."

She could see that Emma was about to say something else, maybe argue some more about the sleeping arrangements, which would have been completely in vain though. However, the door bursting open and their son entering in a manner of a whirlwind cut her off before she could even start.

"Mom! Ma! We're going downstairs to check out the garden. The brochure says there's a swimming pool outside and stables as well..." Henry listed, talking much faster than usual from his excitement.

"That's wonderful, darling." Regina smiled at him.

"So... you coming?" the boy looked at them expectantly and chuckling, Emma stood up from the bed, walking towards their son.

"Sure thing, kid." she said, ruffling his hair a little as she passed Henry.

"Of course, Henry. Let me just finish unpacking and I'll meet you all outside. Go, I'll find you..." Regina said softly and heard Emma giggle.

"That's kind of my father's catchphrase, Regina. Wow, I guess we're really rubbing off on you, huh?" she teased earning a glare from the brunette before she left the room with Henry in tow.

* * *

By the time they made it back to the hotel for a late dinner they were all exhausted and ready to just fall into bed. Henry and Neal and -unsurprisingly to Regina,- Emma were all sitting at the table almost dozing off from running around all afternoon, finding everything and anything absolutely interesting on their little tour of the lands around the hotel. The blonde was just as giddy and eager about everything as the kids, acting totally childish and unlike the grown up woman she was. And although Regina for the life of her wouldn't have admitted it out loud, deep down inside she found it just a bit endearing.

After they finished dinner David had to carry little Neal up to his bed and Henry wasn't very far from falling asleep either, he leaned on Regina for support and barely protested when she laid him down on the bed and started tucking him in like she used to when he was a little boy.

When she finally made her way into her and Emma's room she grimaced, fully expecting the woman to be fast asleep in the middle of the bed. She fond her sprawled out on the floor though, clutching a pillow and slightly snoring.

A surge of unknown warmness cursed though her, a mix of gratitude and affection, catching her off guard for just a moment and that was why she pulled one of the blankets off the bed and covered the blonde with it. Emma turned, snuggling into the blanket then shifting around a little bit but Regina didn't spend any more time watching her, she just stepped past Emma and went into the bathroom to take a shower and get ready for bed herself.

Later that night she was laying in bed under the thin covers, barely awake, probably a few minutes away from falling asleep when she heard it. Emma was tossing and turning on the carpet, letting out a little whine. When Regina listened very carefully she could hear that the blonde's breathing had changed from the deep, even breaths of sleeping to little huffs and a different breathing, Emma was awake. As a mother she had long ago learned what a sleeping person sounded like. She remembered hundreds of times Henry pretended to be asleep when she checked on him, when in fact he wasn't and he just waited for her to close the door and go to sleep herself so he could read some comics in his bed or something like that. She never really called him out on it but it gave her enough of an experience to know that Emma wasn't asleep. She just hoped the blonde wouldn't hear her breathing or wouldn't care that she wasn't sleeping yet either.

She turned on her other side, away from Emma and willed sleep to come as she listened to the other woman's attempts to find a comfortable position. Somehow she managed to fall asleep though because the next thing she remembered was waking up in the morning to the light seeping in through the curtains.

As she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and stretched she noticed the faint sound of water that she recognised as the shower and when she looked around she saw that Emma was no longer on the carpet. The blanket she used to cover the blonde with and the pillow were left in a heap on the floor.

She quickly got out of bed and pulled the curtains, letting the sunlight fill the room. Then she dressed up in short jeans and a sleeveless blouse and she was in the middle of making the bed when the other woman exited the bathroom.

"Good morning." she greeted her, patting down the pillow she slept on.

"Morning." Emma said with a slight smile. Her blond hair was in a bun at the top of her head, the little ends of the strands a bit wet from the shower. She wore a tank top and jeans, looking a bit tired but as ready as ever for the first day of their little vacation. "Sorry if I woke you with the shower..." she added as it came to her mind.

"No no, it wasn't you. It was the sun actually." Regina chuckled.

"O-ow, good old Sunny is in some trouble... Talk about waking the dragon. Or well, waking the Queen..." Emma joked, making the brunette roll her eyes. Emma's jokes seemed to be even more terrible in the morning.

"Shut it, Miss Swan. Let's go have some breakfast instead, shall we?" she suggested, hoping that Henry would be awake and downstairs already.

* * *

The day flew by quickly. They went to the beach and apart from a minor accident involving Emma and an ice cream cone, which after some flying ended up smudging Regina's blouse, it was rather fun. Henry was obviously having the time of his life, building huge sandcastles with little Neal and reenacting some scenes from the Storybook inside them, much to Regina's chagrin all about the heroic journeys of Snow and Charming. Though she had a feeling her son left her out of it on purpose, not wanting to bring the Evil Queen into all this... Which she appreciated immensely.

Emma, after profusely apologizing for ruining Regina's blouse, took the boys for a little swim in the ocean, throwing Neal into the water and splashing Henry over and over again. David soon joined them and then it was just Regina and Snow, laying back and sunbathing, watching them.

"I'm really glad you came, you know." Snow's quiet voice interrupted the comfortable silence.

"Thank you, and thank you for inviting me. I'm glad I came too." Regina admitted with a soft smile, shaking her head as she watched Henry and Emma imitate dolphins. Or mermaids... she couldn't be sure.

"Seeing you and Emma get on so well makes Henry really happy. Makes me happy too, but I don't think that concerns you much..." she teased with a grin.

"And how right you are." Regina sassed back though there was no malice in her voice. If someone told her a few years back that today she would be sitting on a beach with Snow White, chatting amicably about their shared families and their feelings, she probably would have beheaded that someone. Or the very least laughed hysterically in their face. And yet here she was and odd as it was, she wouldn't have it any other way.

Later, after Henry had convinced her to take a dip as well they made their ways back to the hotel. They had an early dinner and then decided to take a walk before heading to bed.

"Mom! I heard you only have one bed in your room too..." Henry started with a grin.

"You did?" Regina asked, looking pointedly at Emma.

"Yeah, Ma complained about sleeping on the floor." he answered and Snow gasped.

"You make poor Emma sleep on the floor?" she shot an accusing look at Regina.

"On the carpet. It looks like a comfortable enough one to be fair." she said with a small shrug.

"Emma, you're welcome to sleep with us! The bed is big enough for all of us and we can snuggle up to make space!" Snow turned to her daughter sweetly who flushed to a dark shade of tomato in an instant, causing Regina to snicker smugly.

"Uh...no, thanks. The carpet is rather cozy actually." she muttered, glaring at the other mother of her son.

That night when Regina exited the bathroom after her shower Emma was still up, laying on the carpet and playing on her phone. She stepped past her and gracefully slipped under the covers, arranging the pillows around her before she reached for the book she put on the nightstand.

"You know, we could switch every night... That would be fairer." Emma muttered after a few minutes but Regina didn't even lower the book.

"Well I'm not going to sleep on the floor." she murmured back.

"On the carpet." Emma corrected her cheekily, using her own previous words. Regina rolled her eyes and sighed, putting her book on her stomach with a thud.

"I believe your parents had booked the rooms, dear, so it's their mistake we only have one bed." she remarked. "Anyways, you said it yourself that it's cozy down there..." she shot back and Emma groaned.

"Whatever."

"That's what I thought too." Regina murmured then put her book back on the nightstand instead of opening it again and turned off the little lamp there. "Good night, Miss Swan."

"Night."

* * *

That night she awoke several times just slightly, stirring because she felt hot under the covers or startling awake from a bad dream but every time she could hear Emma tossing around on the floor, probably having a nightmare as well or just trying to find a good position to sleep in. Her sleep induced dizziness made her feel just a jab of guilt every time she heard the blonde's huffs and sighs and her clearly uncomfortable state but before she could do anything about it or think about it more she fell back asleep.

In the morning she woke to the sound of the shower again. She turned to her side and gave herself a few minutes, waiting until her mind cleared then she rolled out of bed and started to get dressed. Just like yesterday, Emma came out of the bathroom fully dressed and when she noticed the brunette, she grumbled something inaudible, making the brunette's eyes snap up curiously. She knew Emma wasn't a morning person but as her eyes roamed over the blonde's face she knew it wasn't just that. There were dark circles forming under usually sparkling green eyes, which were now blank and barely open. Emma wore a tank top and jeans and as she moved towards the blanket she left behind and bent down for it Regina noticed her slight wince as if her back was hurting from the movement.

Guilt flooded the brunette's mind as she made the connections. Emma didn't sleep well. Maybe she couldn't even sleep at all. Probably for the second night in a row. Yesterday night Emma had been exhausted from the rush of the afternoon, running around with the boys and also the long drive before that so that was why she could sleep but Regina remembered that she looked a bit restless even then. And that was her fault. She made her sleep on the carpet. And really, she wasn't about to share a bed with Emma but just for a moment she wondered if she was ruining the blonde's vacation.

"Good morning." she murmured, watching from the corner of her eye as Emma stretched her back, sighing as it cracked.

"Mhmm. Morning." she muttered back, folding the blanket and throwing it into the armchair. "Gonna get coffee..." Emma said as she moved towards the door, probably to go down to the restaurant of the hotel.

Regina stayed alone in the room and glanced at the bed before she made up her mind with a grimace. She looked at the door once more to make sure she was alone then she went to the carpet and laid down on it. She scowled as she shifted around to get comfortable. The carpet surely looked and even felt fluffy but it was very thin and all she could feel was the floor underneath. Compared to the soft bed she was sleeping in, it was terrible.

She quickly got up and bit into her lower lip as she stared at the carpet. It wasn't _that_ bad. Not really. One could manage a few days sleeping on it. People had slept in worse conditions. Hell, even she herself had. People in the Enchanted Forest would have loved to sleep on a carpet like this. It wasn't _that_ bad! She had to convince herself because otherwise she would have to share the bed with Emma. And as she had said, she was not sharing a bed with anyone.

"This is ridiculous." she huffed out after a moment and stomped out of the room, pushing the whole problem to the back of her mind. It was not a problem, it wasn't that bad... If Emma couldn't take it, she could just go and sleep with her parents, or even Henry.

* * *

She didn't hear any complaints from the blonde all day, in fact nobody seemed to notice the effects of her lack of sleep apart from Regina. She guessed maybe it was her conscience, her guilt making her overly aware of every little sign. She didn't comment on it though, not when Emma almost fell asleep while sunbathing that day and certainly not when the day turned to night and the blonde couldn't really keep on a conversation anymore with her father because she kept drifting off.

After dinner Emma excused herself, deciding to skip getting ice cream because she was exhausted. Finally this didn't go unnoticed by the others but Snow and David wrote it off as plain holiday tiredness, the effects of playing and swimming all day, they said they were pretty beat as well.

Regina walked back to the room alone a bit later half hoping and half expecting Emma to be asleep but when she quietly made her way into the room she heard the blond woman moving around.

After her shower she lay in bed in complete silence, the darkness of the room heavy around them and amplifying every little movement and sound. Regina was motionlessly listening as Emma struggled to fall asleep, huffing and grumbling softly. She listened until she couldn't take it anymore.

"Emma." she whispered into the darkness. For a moment there was no reply and she thought Emma might have fallen asleep after all.

"Hmm?" came the hoarse hum finally.

She took a deep breath and held it in before speaking again. Knowing it was absolutely ridiculous that her heart was fluttering in her chest, that it was silly that she felt so nervous about this, that it was probably strange that she was so completely against it in the first place.

"Come here." she whispered after a long minute in which the other woman simply just thought she was sleeptalking when she called out to her.

"What?" came the confused voice.

"Get your ass into the bed, Miss Swan." she growled, already regretting her decision to speak up.

"Wha- are you serious?" Emma's answer was shocked but Regina could see her silhouette as she clumsily got up from the carpet and staggered towards the other side of the bed with her pillow and blanket.

"I was until a moment ago..." the brunette said.

"I thought you didn't share the bed." Emma muttered teasingly.

"Miss Swan..." Regina warned then let out an exasperated sigh "Get in here before I change my mind."

There was no mistaking the huge beam on Emma's face even in the darkness and neither the sigh of pure bliss as the woman sank into the mattress. And hearing it, all Regina's annoyance and anxiousness left her body, only leaving behind a nice, warm, fluffy feeling that she would never admit to. But she knew she had made the right choice. She could finally relax into her own pillow and hearing Emma's breathing beside her started to slowly lull her towards sleep...That was until the blonde spoke up quietly.

"Hey Regina?"

"What is it?" she rolled her eyes.

"Thank you." Emma whispered and those two words were so honest, so genuinely full of gratitude and something else, something she couldn't really put her finger on that an affection she sometimes felt around Emma invaded her and made her smile.

"You're welcome." she murmured back. "Now sleep, goodnight Emma."

"Sweet dreams, Regina." Emma breathed and it was the last thing they said for the night.

* * *

Neither of them knew how exactly it happened but when they woke the next morning they were tangled together, arms around each other, breaths caressing the other's cheek and neck. They didn't know who moved so much during the night because they started out on their own sides of the bed, though Emma could have sworn it was Regina who shifted closer and closer until she was practically laying on the blond woman but she wasn't about to mention that. Not that she minded anyways... Emma expected Regina to freak out as she stirred, even Regina expected herself to freak out when the position she was in occurred to her, but surprising both of them, the brunette realized that this was the best sleep she had in ages. So they just pulled away and got out of bed to start their day, never speaking of it again.

The next night Emma stood hesitantly beside the bed, waiting for Regina to come out of the bathroom. She didn't know if the offer to sleep in the bed only stood for last night and she'd be expected to go back to the carpet again tonight. Especially after how it worked out last time... Yepp, she was probably not welcome again, she thought and with a little reluctance she grabbed her pillow and blanket and dragged them off the bed towards her spot on the floor.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" sounded Regina's voice from behind her and as she spun around she saw the brunette exit the bathroom. "Get those back on the bed. Unless you want to sleep on the floor..." Regina raised an eyebrow.

"Oh...okay, I just thought... I, eh nevermind." Emma stuttered, putting them back onto the mattress, trying hard to hide her growing grin.

They fell asleep after a few murmured words, on their respective sides of the bed again and the next morning woke with Regina's head on Emma's chest, the blonde's arms around her waist. Again. So that was probably why Regina didn't want to share the bed so badly, Emma thought amusedly though she didn't say anything out loud. She started pulling back and untangling herself without waking the other woman but Regina tightened her grip on Emma's top and snuggled deeper into her with a sigh. A flush spread on Emma's neck and cheek quickly, her heart hammering away in her chest and she worried it might wake Regina after all. A smile curled up the edges of her lips when the brunette started to snore slightly and she gingerly reached up and pushed a few strands of dark hair behind Regina's ear. The movement caused Regina to stir and Emma instantly shut her eyes and dropped her hand, relaxing her body as best as she could, pretending she was still asleep though her heartbeat was still too fast. She didn't move a muscle as she listened to Regina gaining consciousness and gathering her bearings. She almost fell out of the pretense and burst out laughing when she heard Regina's slightly annoyed fuming when she realized where she was. The brunette carefully removed herself from Emma's body and as the dip and lift of the mattress indicated from the bed entirely, much to Emma's disappointment, which was unexpected even to the blonde herself. She gave Regina a couple of minutes before she made a show of 'waking up' and just like the other day, they never spoke of what happened.

That night Emma didn't wait for permission to get into the bed, in fact she was almost asleep by the time Regina slipped under the covers next to her. She didn't open her eyes just listened as the brunette turned and shifted a few times before muttering something that sounded entirely too much like 'for God's sake' and in the next moment Emma felt Regina edging towards her and then the now familiar pressure of the brunette's arm around her torso. She allowed a smile to spread on her lips, unseen by Regina and she pretended to turn over in her sleep and pull Regina tight to herself. She tensed for a moment but then melted into Emma and it didn't take long to either of them to drift asleep after that.

In the morning Emma opened her eyes to find never ending pools of brown gazing back at her. They didn't say anything for long minutes but neither of them moved away from the embrace either.

"You want to talk about this?" Emma whispered after a while, not daring to break the haze they were still in, afraid that speaking louder would break the bubble.

"No." Regina replied, barely audible. Then, surprising both of them, she leaned in slightly, closing the mere inches that separated their faces and pressed her lips to Emma's in the softest of kisses. The blonde returned the kiss eagerly and when they pulled back a grin lighted up her face.

"Still not?" she teased and Regina glared at her.

"I really should have left you sleeping on the floor." she told Emma but her eyes were glinting mischievously.

"On the carpet, to be fair." Emma remarked with a smirk and Regina rolled her eyes before kissing her again.

 **Thanks for reading! Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated! :)  
**


	2. Jealousy

**Hey! Thank you all for the love on yesterday's story! It made me very happy! Well this one is much shorter and less funny, fluffy and more on the angsty side. Sorry about that but I wanted to write something that maybe actually could happen on the show... I mean, you know,** **hypothetically...:)) Anyways, I hope you will like it nonetheless.**

 _Disclaimer: I don't own anything._

* * *

 **SWAN QUEEN WEEK**

* * *

 _Day 2- Jealousy_

She had no right to be jealous, Emma Swan knew that.

However, no matter what the rational side of her brain told her, she couldn't help the feeling as it slowly but surely seeped into her bones. It was a long process of course, frankly taking her more time to acknowledge her feelings than she'd liked to admit.

At first she could just blame it on her extreme wariness of strangers. Then as weeks passed and the clench of her stomach recurred every time she saw them together she decided that it was no more than worry for a friend. Yes friends, that was what they were.

She could go on with that for a long time, really, she repeated it to herself so many times that it was nothing else that she almost started to believe it herself. Almost.

Then came the next explanation, she was just worried about Henry. Yes her son's happiness was the most important thing to her and anything that could possibly jeopardize it had to be handled carefully and with suspicion.

She managed several months like that, giving herself excuses but the feeling wouldn't pass. It was getting worse and worse and it got to the point where the white hot rage, the green eyed monster was taking over and almost making her jump up from her seat and march across Granny's to the table where Regina and Robin were sitting with Roland.

They were laughing together over something the man had said and Emma gritted her teeth as she glared at them above the rim of her cup.

"Ma? Are you okay?" Henry's voice tore her out of her thoughts and startled, she snapped her gaze back to her son sitting across from her.

"Yeah, sure." she muttered, trying for a smile and failing miserably judging from the look on Henry's face.

"What is it, Ma?" he asked, twisting back to see what she was looking at. "Oh." he said, understanding flooding his face instantly, making Emma feel nervous and awkward.

What did he think she was thinking? What was his immediate conclusion? He couldn't know, couldn't possibly know when she only realized it about a week ago... He couldn't, right? But then again, of course he did. He was a smart kid, too smart for his own good and certainly too smart for her good and she didn't really know where that all came from because it couldn't come from her nor Neal, no they weren't that clever and the kid was, so it had to be something else. Probably Regina's perfect parenting...

"What? It's nothing, kid, I told you... Now, you wanna get ice cream? I think we should." she suggested, wanting to distract him with something and also get out of there as soon as possible.

"It's February, Ma." Henry reminded her as if he was the adult one in this relationship and she felt a flush creep up her neck. She tried to keep her dignity though and just shrugged.  
"So? Can't we get ice cream then?" she asked with a grin.

"You should talk to her." Henry stated simply, draining the remaining hot chocolate in his mug then wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Henry! How many times have I told you to use a napkin?" Regina's voice sounded from right next to their booth as the woman herself came to a stop beside their table. Emma felt her heart flutter as her eyes were drawn to Regina. "Talk to whom, by the way?" she asked, looking at the blonde with an amused curiosity in her eyes.

Emma's eyes slightly widened and she glanced at their son from the corner of her eyes to gauge if he was about to say anything and expose her little secret but Henry was just watching her with innocent eyes expectantly.

"Uh... nobody." she muttered causing the brunette to raise an eyebrow at her. "Just..um, somebody. That I know." she finished lamely, scratching her neck uncomfortably as she averted her eyes.

"As eloquent as ever, Miss Swan." Regina teased with a smirk on plump red lips and a sparkle in her brown eyes and damn that woman that she was so freaking gorgeous even when she was making fun of Emma... The familiar banter made Emma's skin feel hot but no matter how she wanted to shoot back with something witty she came up empty as she just stared at Regina. "Anyways, I came here to ask something." she continued. "I know it's your week with Henry but I wanted to invite you to dinner tonight." Regina said with just the slight bit of vulnerability and hope in her eyes that was only ever present when Henry was concerned and it made Emma just fall for her even more. She was about to agree eagerly, she loved Regina's cooking and a dinner with her and Henry seemed like the best way they could spend their nights, when Regina added. "Robin and I thought it would be nice to have a weekly family dinner, maybe like a new tradition of sorts..."

Hearing his name was like an ice cold shower on her fluffy, family feels, reality hitting her hard in the face. Of course, they were an item, they would have dinner together. Maybe Robing was already living with Regina, oh god, she really didn't want to go there...

"I...uh... I'm gonna skip that now but Henry can go, of course." she said then turned her head away, looking down into her mug.

"Come on Emma, you can bring the pirate if you insist." Regina rolled her eyes misunderstanding Emma's reluctance to go.

The blonde could tell that Henry was watching the interaction with amusement and the smugness that came with knowing a secret so important and so strongly affecting the conversation that was taking place in front of him and after hearing Regina's suggestion she could see him stifle his laughter, pretending to drink from his mug, which Emma knew to be empty. Though it did cause her to snort briefly, a bitter chuckle escaping her and making Regina shoot a questioning look in her direction.

"I'm... I actually broke up with Hook. Last week." she muttered with a grimace. She really hated hurting Killian, he has become a very dear friend to her over the months but she had to be honest with him and herself, it was no more than that. Not anymore. When she truly had no more excuses for her feelings regarding Regina, when she realized what it has been about all along she had to end it with Hook. No matter how convenient and comfortable it was to have him, he deserved more. And she did too. She didn't want to settle for convenient, she wanted the real deal, she wanted to feel the fluttering in her stomach and the catching of her breath every time they touched she wanted to wake up with a smile on her face just because she would be able to see this person that day and go to sleep with a warm, fuzzy feeling in her chest because of something they did or said. She wanted to exchange silly text messages and share memories and she wanted it all, the whole package. She wanted real love. And she thought she had found the person, she wanted it with Regina. Too bad she seemed to have it with someone else...

"Well I would be lying if I said I was sorry because truly, what the hell did you even see in him? But if you need someone to incinerate him, just give me a call, I'd be happy to." Regina offered and it would have funny if she wasn't Regina and clearly absolutely serious about it.

"Uh, thanks but that won't be necessary." she shook her head.

"If you're sure." Regina shrugged. "Alright, then Henry would you like to have dinner with us tonight?" she asked from their son with a little smile.

"Yes, I would. Maybe I'll try to convince Emma to come too, okay?" Henry replied, grinning cheekily at his blonde mother and receiving a beam from his other mother.

"Lovely. Then I'll meet you at home at five o'clock." Regina pressed a kiss to the top of Henry's head. "I hope you'll change your mind, Emma." she told the blonde, putting a hand on her shoulder and stroking it slightly before she left them alone, making Emma's skin tingle where Regina touched it.

The blonde sighed, gazing after Regina's retreating form, following her until she exited Granny's and joined Robin who was waiting for her there. She tore her eyes from the couple before she would see something that hurt her even more and she met the sad, pitiful eyes of her son.

"You really should talk to her, Ma." Henry said with strong conviction in his tone, appropriate for him being the truest believer.

"Maybe one day, Henry..." she sighed, trying not to think about Robin and Regina walking home together right now, hand in hand probably, talking and laughing and having everything she so desperately wished to have with the other mother of her son. But maybe, maybe one day she'd find the courage, maybe one day, by some miracle she could have a chance with Regina. And until then, she would just have to deal with her jealousy, finding peace only in the fact that at least Regina was happy.

 **Yupp. That's it. Thank you for reading! Review and alerts and all feedback are very welcome! :)**


	3. Time Travel

**Hi everyone! Thank you all for reading and all the feedback on the previous ones! It's very very much appreciated! :) This next one is longer and happier, I hope you'll like it!**

 _Disclaimer: I don't own the show or the characters._

* * *

 **SWAN QUEEN WEEK**

* * *

 _Day 3- Time Travel_

"Woah! Regina?" Emma looked around furiously after landing on something solid on her backside. Much to her relief she saw the brunette just a few feet away from her, sitting up and running a hand through her hair. "What the hell happened?" Emma scowled as she pushed herself up from the ground. She looked around and saw trees and grass everywhere but it wasn't a forest. It seemed to be a park of some sorts. It was a real miracle that nobody saw them appear out of nowhere...

"I told you not to touch anything in my vault, have I not? You just had to go and play around with things you don't know how to handle... " Regina muttered, standing up and dusting her pants off.

"Alright, I'm sorry. Now what do we do?" Emma asked standing up as well.

"We have to figure out where we are... We're not in Storybrooke that's for sure." Regina said with narrowed eyebrows.

"How can you know that for sure?" Emma asked though she also had a feeling they were not in town anymore but she wouldn't bet on it.

"I know my own town, Miss Swan. And this type of tree doesn't grow in there. We're not in Storybrooke." Regina said firmly. "So where are we?" she looked around, her brown eyes taking in every little detail that could help.

Emma did much the same, running her eyes over the buildings she could see, moving towards the path to get a better look at everything. Back when she was a bail bondsperson she was rather good at tracking down places, and at recognizing them easily as well. And there was something about this place, this park and the little she could see of the city from there, the bakery on the corner and the bus stop they all looked slightly familiar... Just like she had been here before. And she had been to so many cities, it was possible she had been here as well. But she couldn't figure it out which one.

Then she heard it, the muffled tune that brought up memories from deep down, making her mouth fall open.

"No way..." she breathed as she took a few steps down the path towards the sound.  
"Emma?" she faintly heard Regina's voice from behind her but she didn't stop just walked briskly towards the entrance of the park. "Emma!" Regina called out once again, hurrying after her.

The blonde halted in her tracks as she got to the gates of the park and caught sight of the car. An ice cream truck with big colorful signs on its side and a speaker on the top of the car, blasting with the catchy tune that triggered Emma's long forgotten memories.

"Oh god." Emma whispered, looking down along the street now and realizing why she had that strange feeling before.

"Emma! Are you okay? What is it?" Regina caught up to her and touched her elbow to get her attention. The touch snapped Emma out of her daze and she turned to look at the brunette.

"Yeah, sure. And I know exactly where we are." she said and when Regina just looked at her expectantly she added. "We're in Hopkins, Minnesota."

"How... how do you know?" Regina asked, sounding confused.

"I spent some time here. When I was a teen." Emma uttered, looking around as if she really couldn't believe.

"Is there any reason why you think we'd end up here? Were you thinking of this place recently?" Regina questioned, trying to figure out their situation.

"No, not really..." Emma shook her head then something else caught her attention.

A bus was coming down the road and slowing as it got to the bus stop and as Emma watched it she noticed that it looked somewhat old. She had a feeling like she was in Storybrooke except... In Hopkins time wasn't still, were there really no technical advances since she was a girl? She watched as the bus stopped and opened its door and Emma could almost see herself as a scared but determined teenager as she got off a bus just like this one, running from the foster system, not knowing what the future might hold for her but strongly believing it could only be better than the group homes. Thinking she would finally be independent, stand on her own, be an adult... She could almost see herself... until she actually really did.

She did a double take, sure that her eyes were playing a trick on her when she saw the blond haired girl in a worn jacket and a backpack on her shoulders get off the bus and stand in the stop, watching the bus drive away with a nervous look in her eyes. That wasn't possible, that simply just couldn't be... her. She watched the girl turn around and take in her surroundings just like Emma herself did a few minutes ago and all thoughts that maybe it was just another girl resembling her went out of her mind. But if that was young Emma... then that meant... oh god, Regina's gonna kill her.

She didn't have much time to ponder over that though because young Emma just turned towards the park and she absolutely couldn't risk getting seen by her younger self so she just grabbed Regina's hand and spun around, making their way back into the park.

"Emma what is it?" Regina asked worriedly, trying to look behind them to see what they were practically running from.

"Oh god, oh god..." she muttered over and over again as soon as she stopped under a large oak tree, pacing a bit before she put her palm on the trunk and leaned onto the tree. "Oh my god." she whispered.

"Emma what happened? Who did you see?" Regina asked, putting a hand on her shoulder, stroking it and stepping close to her to see her face.

"Regina... I saw me." she whispered.

"What?"

"I saw myself. Oh god... It's not only where we are, Regina. It's _when_!" she told the other woman, barely believing it herself even as she said it. Regina's eyes just widened though and she once again looked around.

"Do you mean... When are we, Emma?" she asked.

"If I remember correctly, it's 1998. I was fifteen."

"Emma Swan at the age of fifteen... oh wow, I wonder how you were at that time..." Regina mused with an amused smirk and Emma groaned.

"Seriously Regina? We're stuck in the nineties and all you worry about is how I was as a teenager? I was stubborn and thought I was smarter and stronger than anyone. I thought I could get on all alone..." she told the brunette with an eyeroll.

"Alright. Well we have to be careful, you cannot see us and we can't do anything that might affect your life otherwise..."

"My future could change. Yes I know, Regina. But how is this even possible? I thought time travel was almost impossible..." she said then thought of the other time this has come up. Yes, she was kind of a veteran time traveler now, this wasn't her first time in the past. Their little run-in with Zelena and her evil, or well wicked plan to destroy Regina's happiness and gain her own caused her a trip down memory lane. A trip that almost didn't end well for her. This time she would be much more careful.

"Well, I can only think of one explanation to this. I'm afraid you must have cast a curse somehow while playing around with the different things in my vault. There was actually a restoring curse, one that makes a person or an item reverse in age...it wasn't a complete curse and it wasn't mine, I found it between my mother's things. I didn't really understand it either but you must have... poured something on it... or mixed something that heightened its effects. I don't know. It must have channeled your light magic, it must have activated it." Regina explained with a frown.

"I did what? I cast a curse?" Emma asked incredulously and when Regina nodded she added. "On us?"

"Yes, Emma. I suppose the portal has closed up. Or well I hope because if not, anybody who goes into my vault could fall through it."

"Not like that many people go into your secret vault, though..." Emma reasoned.

"Yes but I for one wouldn't want to run into Henry while we try to figure this out ourselves. But he does come in there sometimes..." Regina pointed out and Emma nodded with a sigh.

"You're right. Alright, I think... I think there must be a reason why we're here, right? So let's just...go after um, well me. And see what she does here." she suggested.

"Okay, if you're sure that's a good idea." the brunette sounded uncertain.

"It's not like we have anything else to do, Regina. Supposedly there's no magic here, so we can't just look for a magical object to open a portal with..."

"Yes, I guess you must be right. It can't be a coincidence we came here..." Regina said and started to walk down the path towards the gates again.

As Emma followed her, watching the slight sway of her hips and the way the wind blew her hair a bit she thought that if she was struck here with anyone, she was rather glad it was with Regina.

"You coming?" Regina paused to wait for her at the gates and Emma jogged towards her. "So where did you go from here?" she asked, looking around, searching for the blonde girl she saw getting off the bus.

"I uh... I'm not sure. Wow, it was a long time ago..." Emma muttered, trying to concentrate really hard on remembering every little detail she could about those few days. "I think I went that way. I wanted to find shelter for a bit..." she nodded towards a street to their left and they started to walk in that direction.

It was an odd feeling, walking down the street, looking at the houses and stores they passed and feeling this deja vu. Except it wasn't deja vu since she have actually already seen all of this. She had walked this street and looked up on buildings and wondered just where will she find a place to spend the night. She knew where to go, flashes and images and sometimes just her instinct leading her and soon enough she spotted the backpack with the little panda sticker on the bottom corner that she put there. It was a gift in a bag of chips that she managed to get a hold of before the other kids and that was kind of the rule in group homes, if you took it it was yours.

"There I am..." she murmured to Regina, who until then was walking next to her wordlessly, just letting her take the lead.

The young girl stood on the sidewalk for a bit before she lowered herself onto a step leading to a front door. She looked deep in thought and Emma knew what must be going through her head. All the insecurities and fears and the desperation and the built up anger that found running away the best option.

"Okay, what should we do? What will you do?" the brunette asked.

"I umm...I dunno." Emma rubbed her forehead, trying to remember but then she realized just where they were. "Oh... Oh!" her eyes widened and a grin slowly spread on her face.

"Emma?" Regina asked, confused.

"See that supermarket there?" Emma pointed to a building a couple of blocks down on the other side of the street. "That's where I met Lily." she said, the memory clear in her head. "So just... umm, give me a moment. I mean younger me. I guess she'll realize she's hungry or something and go into the store." she finished, watching herself as she sat perched on the stone, probably expecting someone to come out any minute and tell her to go away. She was now gazing down the street in the direction of the supermarket and Emma thought it could happen any minute now.

But her younger self didn't move.

"Well?" Regina murmured after a couple of minutes passed in silence. They were kind of just standing in front of a shoe store so she was trying to act like she was just window shopping but she could only observe five pairs of shoes for so long...

"Give her some time. Any minute now..." Emma muttered, her eyes glued to the girl and it was lucky that there were barely anyone on the street and even like this nobody was paying any attention to them because it must have looked pretty suspicious and rather creepy.

They waited another long moment before Emma noticed something, or rather someone else.

"Look, there's Lily!" she pointed out the dark haired girl crossing the street to the supermarket. She walked confidently, striding into the shop like she owned it or the very least like she had done this a hundred times before.

"That's Lily? Wow she changed so much..." Regina said in awe, thinking of the woman she had met a couple of months before. The woman who turned out to be Maleficent's daughter. She didn't really resemble her mother, not even when she was young... Though she had that air of mischief and cheekiness to her that Regina knew Maleficent had as well. Well a grown up version of them at least.

"Yeah... " Emma whispered with a nostalgic smile, almost getting lost of her memories of the two of them together. Lily was her first crush. Before her young Emma never thought of girls like that but Lily changed everything. It was strange, to know that even though nothing happened between the two of them, the girl had such a major impact on her life. How differently everything would have gone if young Emma didn't realize her feelings back then? How long would it have taken her? How many slaps would she have gotten from life...?

Now she was long over Lily, she had someone else in her heart, another brunette who became her friend over the years. A brunette who was now waiting for her younger self to make a move. But of course Regina knew nothing of her little crush...

But it all started with Lily. And it was extremely exciting for Emma to know that and be able to witness it. Of course back then she didn't know what an important part of her life was it, that it was a beginning to something much bigger, that her life would change... She couldn't know, but now she did. Maybe that was why they had to come to this part of Emma's past, maybe she needed to be reminded of that first, innocent love and how pure and blissful it was. How happy it made her. Maybe it was the universe's way of reminding her what she could have had... what she maybe will have the chance to have with Regina again. If only she grew some balls...

"Emma, are you sure this is that time?" Regina suddenly asked and she realized she had been a bit distracted for minutes now. Lily was long ago inside the supermarket and young Emma was still sitting on the steps.

"This isn't good, I'm sure it's that time. We both wear the same clothes, I took this road... I don't understand, what's wrong?" Emma muttered, knowing her younger self had to go in there. There would be unthinkable consequences if she didn't... She racked her brain to figure out what was different this time around, to remember every little detail about that day. Why did she go into the supermarket? She ended up stealing Pop tarts, yes but... it couldn't have been because she was hungry, if that was the case she would have gone in by now. No there was something else...

She watched her young self gazing across the street, letting her eyes linger on people, following them to the store and suddenly she had a flash, just the faintest, faded memory of a woman. Who sauntered into the supermarket like a... like a queen. She gasped, her heart missing out a beat as she once again let her eyes jump from the building to young Emma and then they settled on the woman standing next to her with a questioning look.

"Regina? You have to walk down the street and go into the supermarket." she told the brunette who looked at her like she was out of her mind.

"What? Are you kidding me?" she asked.

"No, I'm sorry but...please, this is very important." she pleaded.

"Emma, she cannot see me. That would risk..." Regina started but the blonde cut her off.

"You have to. Otherwise young me won't move and I won't meet Lily and... a bunch of things will go differently. Please, I know what I'm doing." Emma said, looking into those brown eyes and hoping that Regina would trust her on this.

"Emma..." Regina hesitated, clearly not so sure about this plan.

"Regina please! You have to go now, we have no time to spare. Lily will come out of there any minute now, we can't allow that! You just have to walk down that side of the street where she can see you, it's important that she sees you, you see. And go into the supermarket. Please." Emma rambled and Regina sucked in a deep breath.

"Just hope that you're right." she told Emma then she squared her shoulders and after the next passing car she crossed the street and started walking towards the store.

"Of course I'm right. This is my life..." Ema muttered to herself as she watched Regina walk down to street with her usual long strides, her Major Mills power walk. That woman was truly something and she found herself thinking she could just spend a whole day watching Regina walk and do nothing else, it was mesmerizing... Her confidence, the way she held herself, her perfect composure. And of course it didn't help that she was also breathtakingly stunning. Even in a pantsuit, she managed to look so feminine and the way the wind caught in her hair, Regina kind of looked like a supermodel. "Oh shit." Emma hissed when she realized she shouldn't be watching Regina but her younger self to see if it worked. Her eyes snapped to the front steps with bated breath, wishing with all she had that she remembered correctly.

She only had to wait a few seconds though before young Emma noticed Regina walking down the street. She knew right away when it happened because the blonde girl's eyes widened, her head tilted slightly to the side and she bit her lower lip slightly. A smirk spread on her face because she knew those signs, her young self wasn't making them consciously just yet but those were her 'hi!I like you, I think you look good enough to eat!' signs.

"Gotcha!" she murmured and sure enough as Regina walked down the street and into the supermarket, her younger self stared after her for a moment then as if she was drawn in by some higher power -which might just be the truth, Emma now realized with a dawning amazement- she crossed the street too and walked evenly to the supermarket and disappeared inside. "Mission accomplished." she muttered with a grin.

Emma slumped back against the wall of the house next to her, only now realizing that her palms were sweating and her heart was hammering away in her chest. Only now allowing herself to think about how vital this moment really was in her life and how it was a close call that she lost it.

"She went in." Regina's voice sounded from next to her a few minutes later and she looked up at her with a grin.

"Yes, thank you, thank you so much Regina." she said, feeling like she just wanted to kiss her right there and then.

"How did you know?" the brunette asked in amusement.

"Well you know, apart from it being my life... " Emma started and earned a glare from the brunette. "Sorry, so when I saw that she wasn't moving I knew there had to be something that made her go in there. And I started to wonder what that could possibly be... Then I looked around and realized. An image actually popped into my mind." she said and when Regina still looked at her with a confused look she continued. "You see I thought about this time travel thing, if I'm here now and have these memories that means she had to do them. And she did it because of you. So I came to the conclusion that... this was always meant to be like this Regina. You know, time is a strange thing, everything is connected. And a gorgeously beautiful woman, Regina, could always effect me in the most unbelievable ways..." she finished with a shy smile.

"You...you mean...?" Regina trailed off and Emma couldn't actually believe that she managed to make the mightly Regina Mills speechless.

"Yes, I was..." she took a deep breath before deciding to go full in with her little confession. "Even back then, I was so attracted to you that I simply followed you into the store to see you for a couple of more minutes. Of course, inside I met Lily and it all ended as it did and frankly, I just forgot about you entirely. Until about ten minutes ago. That's why I knew this would work."

"Well, Miss Swan, I have to say I'm impressed. I didn't know you had it in you... I have to admit, this was very smart." Regina said, making Emma burst out laughing because only Regina could seem so very reluctant to say a praise to someone. "I only have one question left..." the brunette added and at Emma's nod she continued. "You said 'even back then'... " she said and maybe it was just Emma's mind playing tricks, making her see what she wished for but was that a glimmer of hope in her eyes? She felt her cheeks getting hotter. This was it, the moment. And now she knew that it was a leap she would have to take and just hope for the best.

"That wasn't a question..." she stalled and Regina rolled her eyes.

"Miss Swan."

"Sorry... um. Yes, Regina. Even back then and ever since I met you." she said, meeting the brunette's wide, surprised eyes boldly, letting her see how she truly felt about her. Because it was just attraction when she was a teenager but it was so much more now. So much deeper and complex and confusing and maddening and lovely at the same time. Just like Regina herself. Her heart was racing and she was utterly terrified of what the other woman might say, she was so scared that with this she would destroy everything they built up so hardly. But before she had time to delve into these, before she had time to get cold feet and backtrack somehow, Regina reached out to cup her cheek gently and she traced her thumb over Emma's cheekbone with so much affection that the blonde was sure she would just melt on the spot before Regina pulled her in, closing the distance between their faces and sealing their lips in a sweet but passionate kiss.

A bright flash of light enveloped them but neither one of them seemed to notice as they were pretty distracted with how their lips slid against one another and their arms came up to clutch at the other, fingers tangling into hair and settling on slim waists, fitting together perfectly. When they finally pulled back and opened their eyes Emma glanced around them, then back at Regina in shock.

"Was that...?" she asked, her tone still breathy from the kiss."Are we back?"

"True Love's Kiss can break any curse." Regina nodded with a smile. "So, I have a feeling I don't need to elaborate about my feelings..." she said playfully and Emma let out a chuckle before she pulled Regina into another kiss.

 **Thanks for reading, reviews and alerts and all feedback are very welcome! :)**


	4. Mistaken for a couple

**Hi there! Thank you all for reading and the feedback on yesterday's story! Here's the next one, this prompt inspired me so much that I came up with two shorter oneshots so you'll find them both in this chapter, divided with a horizontal line... I hope you'll like them! :)**

 _Disclaimer: I don't own any of this..._

* * *

 **SWAN QUEEN WEEK**

* * *

 _Day 4- Mistaken for a couple_

* * *

The Storybrooke Fair had always been something Regina had hated with passion. Kids running around madly, annoying carnie music constantly playing in the background and part of her beautiful main street and the park ruined by the sight of the booths the vendors set up. And the vendors, oh... they sold everything from greasy or sugary carnival food that was sure to cause early death to little trinkets you would never be able to use. All of it was as good as trash. And of course there were the games, the target shooting and ring throwing and those that didn't even depend on skills rather than just chance, the little carousel and the bumper cars that were more dangerous than they looked.

It had always been something she had to endure each year in order to make Henry happy. And really, seeing his little face flushed, his eyes sparkling with excitement, it was a small price to pay. Ever since he was a toddler he begged her until they went out and wandered the rows of booths and wasted some money on the goods and the games. She thought he would grow out of it but somehow her little boy never did and the only year she wasn't forced to go was the year when Henry got the storybook and started to pull away from her, the year he brought Emma town. That year she sat at home, listening to the occasional laughter and squeal that sounded from down the street and she found herself wishing she was out there too with Henry, found herself kind of missing it. And then there were all sorts of dangers threatening the town and for the first time ever since they arrived in this new land, the Fair wasn't held for years in a row.

The next time, after every threat was warded off and curses were broken and wicked sisters defeated and finally finally they had some peace again, it was Emma and Henry making plans, the blonde just as excited about it as their son and they practically dragged Regina with themselves and even though she put up a fight just for the pretense of it, just because she was used to hating it, she didn't mind going with them so badly. And it felt something like family as they strolled down the street, munching on caramel and cotton candy.

She did her best not to look at the couples holding hands around them or the one making out against a tree as they went because really Robin wasn't so long ago and no matter how hard she tried to act tough about it and deny that it affected her at all, it wasn't so easy.

But she had Henry and Emma was making silly jokes and they looked so happy that it was making it just a bit easier, making her forget about it all. And from time to time Emma's arm and hand brushed against hers as they walked beside each other, the blonde seemingly not even noticing it anymore and it felt nice.

"Mom! I'm going to go over there and say hi to Nick, okay?" Henry told her, pointing over to the other side of the carousel where she could see his friend Nicholas waving him closer. He had a huge bubble maker in his hand and he was blowing extra sized bubbles all around.

"Okay but don't get lost." Regina nodded.

"Do you have your phone? Turn the volume up, kid, so we can reach you." Emma added and Henry rolled her eyes.

"Yes moms, don't worry, I'm not eight, I'll be fine." he said before grinning at them and sprinting across the crowd to meet his friend.

"Oh he grows up so fast..." Emma sighed dreamily next to her and she swatted her arm with a grin.

"Like you know it. You barely notice when he's wearing a new T-shirt or when he's outgrown his jeans." she teased.

"Hey, the kid has tons of shirts of course I can't keep track of each one of them. I can barely keep track of my own." she protested.

"Not like you have such an extensive wardrobe." she said and earned an indignant look from the blonde.

"Not everyone can have as many blouses as you do, Regina" she shot back and Regina felt the thrill of their familiar banter.

"Do you even own one?"

"Yes." Emma stated, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Other than the one Henry stole from me?" Regina asked with a smirk.

"I gave that back! You even wore it several times since..." Emma cried out, throwing her arms in the air and the brunette let out a chuckle.

"Good to know you keep track of what I wear so carefully."

"Uugh" Emma just groaned and Regina grinned in victory. Emma glanced at her from the corner of her eye and when she saw Regina's beam a smile spread on her face as well. It was great to see the brunette so happy...

"Madam Major! Mayor Mills!" one of the vendors they passed called out to them and Regina turned towards the voice in surprise. "Come and try yourself out, win a plush or a heart shape for your girlfriend there! Come and shoot a round!" the man beckoned them closer and Regina's eyes widened when she heard his words. Her girlfriend? She realized he must have meant Emma and a blush started spreading on her cheeks. So that was what they looked like from the outside? It wasn't that she really minded anyone thinking they were a couple. Actually, she really didn't mind at all but... She couldn't be sure if it bothered Emma.

"We're not...she's not..." she started to say, gathering up all her usual snark and sass but Emma cut her off.

"Yes Regina, why don't you try?" she asked with a twinkle in her green eyes. "I'd like that little pony over there!" she said, pointing at a purple miniature plush on the second shelf with a shit eating grin on her face, enjoying the situation far too much and Regina had to restrain herself not to do something childish, like stick out her tongue.

"Fine." she huffed out then payed for one round and with her first shot she got into the middle of the target, getting Emma that damn pony. "Happy now?" she asked from a slightly shocked blonde, feigning annoyance when in fact she was rather enjoying herself.

"Very." Emma nodded and clutched the animal to her chest, making a show of stroking its mane lovingly before she grinned at Regina, who just rolled her eyes then pulled the blonde along by the crook of her elbow, making their ways down the road by those goddamn booths.

* * *

Regina never knew how exhausting an election could be. Before her curse she didn't have to go through any of that and then after it broke, they never really had time to worry about who's Mayor. Then it was Snow of course and then when the woman couldn't do it herself it was back to Regina. But she was told not a week ago that since now this is a town just like any in the world and since the citizens desired to be able to make their own choice they would have to hold elections so they could vote. Also so anyone who wanted to become mayor could have a campaign and try.

And that was why Regina was suffering through interviews with the three local newspapers, that was why she had to be so ridiculously lovely with everyone in town, even the stupid new girl at the flower shop who just couldn't wrap her mind around why Regina would want to buy a big bouquet even though it was absolutely none of her business and really can't someone want to decorate their home or office with fresh waters... but she had to force a smile on her face and tell this girl her reasons. And then afterwards thank her for her services. She absolutely hated it! It wasn't what she was used to at all.

And it was why, to the urging of her secretary who was now acting as her campaign manager, she had to do a press conference. Which wasn't so much of a press conference because Storybrooke only had one Tv channel and the previously mentioned three newspapers and some online bloggers who were mostly just geek kids who liked to be informed so the conference was mostly open to anyone who was willing to listen and that was how the room got packed, a crowd gathering quickly, everyone wanting to feel very included and very important in this whole election thing. She mostly found it ridiculous but of course she couldn't say that out loud, maybe only complain to Henry at home or to Emma when the blonde popped up at her office, like a breath of fresh air, with a coffee or something to eat.

And so she opened her speech with her wide but entirely fake smile, her mayor persona slipping into place perfectly as she welcomed everyone and thanked them for being present on this conference. She said a few words about her campaign program, her plans and her reasons and then she opened the conference up to questions. At least fifteen hands lifted into the air at the same time and Regina took a deep breath, preparing herself for the worst. She scanned the crowd quickly around the back and her eyes found the blonde Sheriff standing near the door, leaning back on the wall with her arms crossed above her chest. Emma was looking at her with reassuring eyes, sending a small smile her way as their eyes met above the crowd and it calmed Regina's nerves immensely.

"Mayor Mills what do you think about your opponents?" came one man's voice and Regina repressed her urge to be sassy about it.

"I believe everyone has the right to want to try and I think they're all worthy opponents no matter how inexperienced they might be." she said.

"Madam Mayor! The lost boys you brought back from Neverland are starting to grow up into hooligans, damaging public property... what do you plan do do with them?"

"Those boys are just like our own children in their teenager years, they need love and care and understanding and I hope that over the years they will find families who are willing to take them in. Until then they are living together under the supervision of the fairies. Sheriff Swan and I are working on a way to occupy them when they're not in school, a way for them to use their extra energies in something that the town could profit from rather than suffer. Some of the boys are going to be helping out at the Sheriff's department and others will be doing some lighter jobs around town. We also thought of building a center, not just for the lost boys but for all the teenagers in our town who need a place to... " she trailed off in her little monologue and glanced at Emma again with a playful smile before continuing. "How did you say, Miss Swan? They need a place to 'chill out', right?" she asked and Emma rolled her eyes with a grin. "So that's what our plans are at the moment."

A murmur ran across the crowd, everyone having an opinion about it and wanting to share with the one sitting next to them, reporters quickly writing down what she said so they could quote it later in their articles.

"Mayor Mills! What did you think of the events of June 26th? Now that same-sex marriages are legal in the whole country, will you and Sheriff Swan get married?"came the next question, catching Regina entirely off guard. This was why these conferences weren't open to everyone. She composed herself quickly and tried to answer as politely and as diplomatically as she could.

"While I do support marriage equality and I am very glad it is legal now, Miss Swan and I are not an item, so no, we are not getting married." she said with a smile.

"How do you feel about the fact that half the town thinks you're together?" the next question was shouted and immediately came another one. And one after that, Regina not having the chance to say a word.

"What does your son think about that?"

"Then why did the Sheriff dump that pirate of hers?"

"Can you tell us about the rumors of you and Maleficent?"

"What about the time you and Sheriff Swan went to find that woman?"

"When you were out of town together...?"

"What about when the two of you fought against...?"

The crowd started to move, everyone yelling their questions in at the same time, the noise getting too loud to hear anything after a while and Regina felt her stomach clenching and her nerves getting the better of her. This is so not how she planned this...

Her eyes involuntarily jumped to the back of the room to search for the blonde, she really needed that moral support at the moment, but she was not much of a help, Emma was almost doubled over, laughing into her hands and Regina shot her a glare.

She looked to the side where her secretary was standing and after sharing a look, Regina stepped back from the microphone and gave way to the other woman who spoke up, the microphone allowing her to speak over the noise and get people's attention.

"Please! Everyone! Let's take a break now! We can continue in ten minutes but we would like everyone to keep their questions on the topic of the town and the election and not Mayor Mills's personal life. Thank you!"

The people started to stand up, many looking disappointed but others were busy chatting about these unexpected turn of events as everyone wandered out of the room. Regina slipped through one of the doors next to the stage and she found herself in an empty corridor, blissfully quiet and peaceful. Her secretary gave her a bottle of water and very respectfully told her to just take a few deep breaths and get ready for round two then she left her alone. A few minutes later Emma appeared, striding down towards her with a smug grin on her face.

"Well that was fun!" she said as she came to a stop beside Regina.

"Oh shut it." she snapped.

"What? It's good to know so many people would support us, they are all little shippers..." Emma said, the last part in a sing-song voice and Regina couldn't be mad at her really, not when she was so adorable.

"You're such an idiot." she shook her head with a smile.

"Why, Mayor Mills, is that way of saying you love me?" Emma teased and even though Regina didn't answer her, they both knew it was indeed.

 **And that's it. Thank you for reading, please tell me what you thought! Any and all feedback are most appreciated! :)**


	5. Best friend Romance

**Hey! Thank you all for reading and feedback on yesterday's piece. Hope you'll enjoy this one! :)**

 _Disclaimer: I don't own any of it..._

* * *

 **SWAN QUEEN WEEK**

* * *

 _Day 5- Best friend romance_

Emma slipped into the mansion through the back door in the darkness, careful not to make any noise. She could have easily just poofed into Regina's room but she wished to respect the other woman's privacy. Also she didn't mean to startle her. So she used the key that was hidden under a particularly heavy flowerpot and entered.

With her new powers came an entirely different relationship with the darkness of the night. She didn't find it threatening in any way anymore. When she was just a little girl, she used to be afraid of the darkness. She never told anyone and of course she has grown out of it, but even as an adult, sometimes she felt uncomfortable in pitch blackness. But now that tenseness was gone, she wasn't straining her eyes, looking around in search of monsters. There was no bigger monster than her, she was the most dangerous thing out there. The moved with ease, quickly and without any sound, never bumping into anything. Maybe it was just because she knew Regina's house so well, maybe because she has done this little night trip several times before over the last week but she found her way around the kitchen and dining room into the hall without difficulties. Old Emma would have surely crashed into a chair or two or maybe would have ended up breaking a vase or a framed picture but not her. She moved like a nocturnal cat. Flawlessly, almost floating in air.

She took the stairs two at a time, stepping over the one that creaked without a second thought and she walked down the corridor, passing Henry's bedroom, only drawing her finger over the wood affectionately and stopping in front of Regina's door.

She raised her fist and rapped on the door lightly. Twice. Then before waiting for a reply or the woman herself to open the door she pressed down on the handle and pushed the door open.

"Regina?" she whispered as she stepped in. The room, just like all the others in the house, was enveloped in darkness and no sound was audible. If Emma didn't know any better, she'd think the brunette was asleep.

But of course, she knew better... She knew because there was a reason for her little visit, she knew because she was the reason – if only indirectly- for Regina being awake.

A sniffle broke the silence and her heart constricted painfully in her chest. She didn't understand fully how this Dark One thing was working, really, because she was supposed to feel nothing but the darkness cursing through her veins, overwhelming her, the power of it and the insatiable urge to hurt and destroy. But somehow the compassion and care she felt for Regina at that moment overwrote everything else. Maybe it was the Emma-part in her, maybe it was because she used to be the Savior and had the lightest of hearts. Maybe that was why she couldn't be corrupted entirely.

"Oh Regina..." she murmured, moving across the room without further prompting and kicking off her boots she crawled onto the bed and knelt above the covers behind the brunette.

Regina was curled up on her side into a little ball, her hair falling into her face and hiding it from view but her shoulders were shaking from her quiet sobs.

"Please shhh... please don't cry. It's going to be alright..." Emma stroked up and down her back in soothing circles, leaning down and encircling her with her other arm. It was the only way to calm the brunette a bit. On the first night she had brought ice cream and a movie but Regina just turned away from her, telling her to go home and leave her alone. She didn't. On the second night she brought a bottle of wine, thinking if maybe the traditional comfort food didn't help, Regina needed alcohol. But wine didn't work out either and so on the third night she showed up with something much stronger. But none of those worked and every time she was unable to console Regina, until she realized that the only thing that could help was bodily contact. Now, on the fifth night she spent creeping into her home to offer some comfort for her friend to the best of her abilities, she knew what she had to do.

"N-no it's not. H-he...he...he.." Regina whimpered, breath hitching in her throat every time. "He is my soulmate, Emma. He is supposed to be... And I... I lost him." Regina cried.

"Regina you didn't lose him, it's his loss. I'm so very sorry, I truly am." she said, feeling self hatred flood her whole body.

"Not your fault..." Regina sniffled again.

"Of course it is. If you weren't searching for a way to get rid of the darkness in me, you would have spent time with him instead. He wouldn't have... broken up with you." Emma said, still not being able to wrap her head around the idea that Robin Hood broke it off with Regina. What kind of a dense idiot would break up with this woman?

"I should have... involved him. I was afraid..." she cried.

"I know." Emma said, and really she did. She felt the blood curling fear every day, terrified that something might happen to those she loved because of her. Because of trying to help her. She didn't become the Dark One to just have them throw themselves in the way of danger in order to save her.

There was a long silence, the only sound Regina's occasional sniffle and the ruffle of the covers as Emma kept up her strokes.

"I wish you didn't spend all your time searching for Merlin." Emma admitted quietly. "I wish you could just be happy for once."

"How could I be happy when I know you made this sacrifice for me? How could I be happy when I know you aren't, Emma?" Regina whispered and emotions unknown flared up in Emma's chest. "It's just... I know I'm being pathetic. Crying over a man..." she chuckled darkly. "But he's supposed to be my soulmate, the only one for me. My True Love. There isn't anyone else for me, but him. And I just lost him..."

"Well then he wasn't really that, was he?" Emma reasoned. "If he really was the one, then he would have stood by you, he would have understood and been patient. And Robin was neither of those things to be honest."

"You really don't like him, do you?"

"Of course not, you're my best friend and he hurt you. I had to use up all my self control not to tear out his heart that day I heard. I only didn't do it because I was too worried about you. And every day since then, I have this urge to torture him for hours both magically and physically for doing this to you, as cruel as that sounds." Emma muttered, knowing that what she was saying was horrible. But it was also true.

"That's just the Dark One in you..." Regina said dismissively.

"No, it's actually me. Just maybe the bit more violent side of me."

"I heard you couldn't keep away from him entirely..." the brunette whispered, finally turning on her back to face Emma.

"Oh..." the blonde felt her cheeks flush slightly, thinking of the day before. After spending three nights in a row with an uncontrollably sobbing Regina in her arms her loathing towards the man was even bigger than towards herself and she couldn't help but confront him when she saw him at Granny's, which consisted of her throwing a mad right hook his way, almost knocking him off his feet and then yelling at him, telling him what a son of a bitch he was and that he didn't even deserve Regina's love.

"You shouldn't have punched him." Regina told her in a disapproving tone.

"I actually had to. And I'm glad I did."

"Defending my honor or what?" Regina snorted.

"Yeah, something like that..." Emma smiled and seeing that the other woman was somewhat calmer now, she moved to lay down next to her, their faces only inches apart on the pillow but neither seemed to care. "He's a moron, Regina. Seriously, breaking up with _you_?" Emma scowled and shook her head against the pillow. "Who would ever do that? You're smart and strong and beautiful and funny in your own sassy, dry way..." Emma laughed quietly when Regina hit her arm.

"I have an excellent sense of humor, Miss Swan. Otherwise how could I ever tolerate you?" Regina teased.

"Right... Yay me, I went from 'I don't want to kill you.' to 'tolerate' in a little less than one year! What an impressing progress..." Emma pouted playfully and Regina rolled her eyes.

"Actually yes, there are only a select few who even make it to the first step..." she told her with a smirk then she sighed. "How do you even do that?" she asked in amazement and Emma raised her eyebrows in confusion.

"Do what?"

"Make me entirely forget for a minute." Regina admitted and Emma felt pride welling up in her chest.

"Must be the Dark One in me..." she shrugged with a grin then she reached out and gently tucked an errand strand of dark hair behind Regina's ear. "I just hate seeing you sad. I never could stand it actually, if you remember..." she whispered, meeting Regina's eyes and staring into the depths of them, seeing an abundance of different emotions swirling in those endless pools of brown.

"You know... what he said to me, Emma?" the brunette asked after a moment of silence. "He said that... I must love you more than him if I get so immersed in this that I can't find time to spend with him. He said it meant I missed you more than him. That I care about you more than him. That you mean more to me if I can't even let him help."

"As if you need his help..." Emma muttered. "That idiot." she growled, thinking that tomorrow Robin wouldn't escape her wrath. He was due to at least another punch.

"No Emma, I realized... that he was right." Regina said and the blonde's eyes widened.

"W-what?" she stammered.

"He was right. I've been thinking about this a lot... and I do... care about you more than I care about him. I tried my best to ignore it and deny it even to myself but it's no use and I don't want to pretend anymore. I can't." the brunette murmured, glancing up at Emma nervous from under long eyelashes, making the blonde's breath catch in her lungs.

"Regina...I..." Emma didn't know what to say. Her heart was trashing wildly in her chest like a frightened bird in a cage and her feelings were all over the place, ranging from fear to amazement and worry and hope, all mingling up in one big mess. "I'm the Dark One, Regina... " she whispered as her only argument.

"I don't see the Dark One, Emma. I only see you. For me you're Emma Swan, my best friend, the other mother of my son and nothing else. Well yes, so much more but the Dark One is not one of them. It doesn't matter to me. I love _you_. I love Emma." Regina said passionately and tears welled up in Emma's eyes, making the brunette's features blurry before her.

"Regina." Emma breathed out in awe before the other woman leaned in and brushed her lips against hers gingerly.

The blonde sucked in a deep breath when they pulled apart, her heart soaring in her chest and she couldn't help herself, her worries were all pushed to the back of her mind by her pure need and love for this woman and she cupped her face, pulling Regina back towards her and molding their lips together one more time.

"You do know that I'm still the Dark One though. I can't bear the thought of hurting you in any way, Regina..." Emma let her biggest fear surface, her lips caressing Regina's cheek as she spoke.

"You won't. Don't you see? You're only ever been Emma with me, each night you came to comfort me and laid in my bed with me and held me while I cried...That wasn't the Dark One, that was you. I trust you, Emma." Regina told her and it shook Emma to her core, a tingling feeling running up and down her spine.

"Oh god, I love you." she finally gave in, knowing that everything she had been feeling and repressing for this woman even long before she became the Dark One, every lingering touch, every shared smile, every time they saved each other or put the other before themselves, everything was leading straight up to this point and no matter how hard she fought against it, she was doomed to lose anyways. So she gave in gladly, feeling free at last and kissed Regina again, this time with more fervor, making the brunette forget about all her pain altogether and let herself be just Emma for the time being. Because that was what Regina saw and loved her as. Just Emma...

 **Thank you for reading! Please let me know what you thought! :)**


	6. Act of True Love

**Hello everyone! Thank you for the support so far, thank you all for reading I really appreciate it! :) And this new story is soooo not what I planned to do at first. But that idea went to the trash because of** **technicalities and I had to come up with something entirely different and this is what happened... Hope you'll like it! :)**

 _Disclaimer: I don't own any of it..._

* * *

 **SWAN QUEEN WEEK**

* * *

 _Day 6- Act of True Love_

Every time an act of True Love is done, your heart gets lighter just a bit, the lightness collecting and balancing out the darkness in you. People who have more lightness in their heart are usually more cheerful and carefree afterwards, the light in them making them feel good.

But with Emma Swan it was a bit different. Her chest was feeling like it was expanding with each passing day, feeling like her heart was getting bigger and heavier and after a while it was uncomfortable. At times she could even swear she saw her chest sparkle or light up or whatever and it was totally freaking her out. Because she had absolutely no idea why it was happening or what it meant. She still didn't know much about magic or true love. She only knew about True Love's Kiss and it's ability to break any curse. She was still learning a lot and trying out her powers, and really this thing about hearts getting lighter wasn't really common knowledge even back in the Enchanted Forest. There were barely a few people who ever felt more than the usual effects.

She knew it couldn't be a simple health issue, not with feeling like her magic was bubbling out of her too so she asked Regina about it one afternoon they were sitting together in the backyard of the mansion.

"You know that feeling when you've eaten a whole bunch of lot and you're just so full you feel like you're going to burst out any minute?" she asked from Regina, who narrowed her eyebrows and wrinkled her nose in an adorable way.

"Not really, I have this thing called self-control, Emma." she said with a smirk and the blonde rolled her eyes with a sigh. "Why?"

"I feel this funny thing in my chest..."

"Is this your way of telling me you have a heartburn from my homemade enchiladas? Because I told you not to eat that second helping..." she shook her head.

"No, no... not like that. Like literally in my chest. Like my heart is... About to explode?" Emma said uncertainly, not really knowing how to explain.

"Have you seen a doctor about it, dear? Maybe it's a heart condition...you should get it checked." Regina suggested, the evident worry in her voice making Emma's already swelled heart flutter.

"Yeah, maybe I will." she nodded but her mind was already wondering who might be able to help her case. She knew for sure that it wasn't a doctor from the hospital. She needed someone magical, someone who knew a lot and who could be trusted with her heart. She wasn't very superstitious or anything but if she had learned only one thing during her years in town, it was that your heart was more important than you ever thought. She shuddered to think of a possibility of her heart literally getting into the wrong hands...

And that was how after some more consideration overnight, the next day she knocked on the convent's door, where the fairies lived. A brown-haired woman opened the door and greeted her with a welcoming smile.

"Hello, may I help you?" she asked.

"Yes, I came to see the Blue Fairy." Emma said, feeling a bit awkward.

"Emma, good morning." came Blue's voice immediately from behind them and the blonde looked up at her in surprise. "Your magic is very powerful, I felt your presence before you even knocked." Blue explained. "How can I help?"

"I..have a question, of the magical sorts..." Emma started hesitantly.

"Of course, please come and sit." Blue smiled widely, ushering her into a sitting room. "What is it you wanted to ask about?"

"I wonder if you know why I sometimes feel like... like my heart is too big or heavy for my chest. At times I think it even...glows or something. I know it sounds crazy but..." Emma rambled expecting the fairy to tell her to go see a doctor as well but instead Blue just smiled and shook her head.

"Not at all. If this is what I strongly believe it is then it's a rather uncommon but entirely possible thing." Blue told her and she waved her hand in the air, making a wand appear.

"What do you mean?" Emma asked in confusion.

"Whenever you act out of True Love, your heart gets lighter. For most people it's just evening out the darkness, or maybe making them feel cheerful but it seems like, Emma, that your heart is overflowing with Acts of True Love."

"I-I don't understand... I haven't broken any curses recently or anything." Emma muttered.

"No, you see, an Act of True Love can be more than just True Love's Kiss, though that is the most well-known... an Act of True Love can be almost anything, Emma. As long as it's done out of love, pure love for the other person. It's hard to explain, I'd rather show you if you'll allow..." Blue suggested and Emma just nodded, feeling a bit nervous. "Don't worry, it's nothing painful or dangerous, Emma." the woman smiled reassuringly, sensing the blonde's discomfort. "Alright, there we go." Blue murmured and pointed the wand towards Emma's chest and pulled it in front of her heart in seemingly abstract patterns.

Rays of light magic shot out from Emma, forming several differently sized little bubbles in front of her, hovering in the air. Two stood out, bigger than all the other ones.

"These are the most important of your acts of true love. The ones that are filled with the most love." Blue explained.

One of them was of Henry laying in a hospital bed and Emma leaning above him to kiss his forehead. The kiss of true love that broke the curse, she remembered perfectly well.

The second was at first just a big swirling mess of black until she saw Regina in the middle and she realized instantly that this was when she took on the Dark One to save the brunette from it.

"And these are your recent Acts of True love, Emma." Blue murmured, swirling the bubbles around a bit for Emma to see new ones but she wasn't paying much attention, her eyes were fixed on the bubbles and the images inside them. They looked like little scenes from a movie, scenes from her life... She leaned forward to see them better, her hand hovering over some of them as she moved to touch them then thought better of it.

There was her and Regina watching Grease, a movie Emma herself hated with all she had but the brunette really wanted to see it. She remembered she almost fell asleep by the end of it but hearing the brunette hum along to the songs and seeing the grin on her face when the end credits rolled made it all worth it.

Then in another one, Emma was piling all her olives onto Regina's plate while dinner. Once Regina told her about her love for the vegetables and ever since Emma pretended to hate them so she could give hers to the other woman.

There was one with her punching Robin Hood in the face.

Then another one of her standing in front of Regina in an almost protective stance and yelling at a man from town. If she remembered correctly the man was giving Regina a hard time because of her past evil deeds.

There was one of her covering the brunette with a blanket when she fell asleep on the couch. Emma felt a warm flutter in her chest when she saw herself lean down and press a kiss to Regina's temple.

There were quite a few with Henry and Regina and her in it as well. Her giving them the first pieces of steak when they did barbecue. Her showing up with a huge box of ice cream at the mansion after Henry's soccer team had lost the game.

"These are acts of true love? They seem so ordinary..." Emma muttered in awe.

"Yes, well it can be something very casual too. Something that would otherwise be simply called a considerate or thoughtful act." Blue said, her eyes on the little balls as well and there was a mysterious smile hiding in the corners of her mouth.

"Then why are these different?" Emma asked.

"Not every kiss is a True Love's Kiss, Emma... just like that, not every considerate thing is an Act of True Love. It depends on the intensity of your feelings for a certain person."

"So what is wrong with me? Why is it uncomfortable?" Emma worried her lower lip between her teeth as her eyes lingered over a bubble showing her laying down in bed next to to a very sick Regina. She remembered clearly, the brunette managed to catch some nasty stomach flu and she protested weakly when Emma refused to her alone after finding out about the brunette's fever induced nightmares, despite the fact that she would surely get infected as well.

"Your heart was already full of light magic so now the lightness is built up in your heart and it seems to me it doesn't have an outlet. You do these things without noticing, without realizing it's true love and so your love, your lightness gets repressed."

"So what you're saying is, in order to get rid of some..." she trailed off, not exactly sure what the fairy was implying.

"You have to actually act on your true love, Emma." Blue smiled. "Your have so much unfulfilled love in you, Emma, it wants you to take measures."

"I don't understand... I have built up lightness in me because of my acts of true love and the only way to get rid of it is acting on my love?" Emma scowled, trying and failing to wrap her mind around the idea. "How am I supposed to do that?"

"Well... I don't wish to tell you what to do, but... I see that quite a lot of these acts are for Mayor Mills. Maybe you should... consider talking to her about your feelings." Blue suggested gently.

"My feelings?" Emma asked back. "Regina is my friend, that's all."

"Oh... " Blue sighed knowingly.

"What oh?" Emma was starting to get angry know. She knew Blue was doing her a favor but it annoyed her that the fairy seemed to get something, see a connection that she didn't.

"You're in denial, that's the oh, Emma. You don't allow yourself to admit your feelings and that is why your love feels like it is practically bursting out of you..." Blue explained.

"I'm not..." Emma started protesting but Blue just drew her hand over the little bubbles, making them disappear. "Where did you put..." she asked but then she paused because another set of bubbles appeared, these having a different color. "What are these?" Emma asked, not recognizing any of them as things she did.

"These are the desires of your heart..." Blue murmured and Emma noticed that she subtly averted her eyes, not looking at the bubbles. She was glad for the privacy because as she looked at the bubbles again she saw things she never would have expected.

She saw herself and Regina on two sides of a table with a candlelit dinner, laughing softly together.

In another one she saw Henry and Regina and herself walking down the street towards Granny's, the picture of a perfect family. She noticed she and the brunette had their fingers entwined.

Then there was one of just Regina's face, beaming at her with sparkling eyes so full of adoration that it almost hurt to look away from.

Then she felt a crimson flush appear on her face when she looked at the next one, it was of the two of them, curled together on the couch and heavily making out. As she watched that one play out for a long moment she saw that eventually they pulled away and just snuggled close, a content, soft smile on both of their faces.

"I..." Emma stuttered, tearing her eyes away from the bubbles. "I think I should go...Thank you, Blue." she murmured, feeling like her emotions were swirling inside her like the bubbles did in front of her minutes ago. But most of all she was utterly confused and she wanted some time to think.

Blue nodded and waved with the wand again, making the balls disappear completely.

"Of course, Emma. I hope I could help." the fairy nodded and followed her to the door. "Emma?" she called after her and the blonde looked back. "Trust your heart, I never lies." she smiled then closed the door.

That night, after a very long walk on the beach Emma knocked on the door of the mayoral mansion with her heart fluttering madly, feeling like it was thumping in her throat.

"Emma! Hello!" Regina greeted her with a smile. "Come in." she stepped aside but all the blonde could do was stare at her.

It was like she was finally seeing her for the first time, she watched the lights of the setting sun play on the dark locks of Regina, marveled over the contours of her face, so soft and elegant yet so strong. The depth of her eyes, it was like she could see into the very soul of this beautiful woman in front of her. How could she missed all the signs before, she didn't know. All she was sure of that now that she saw she couldn't unsee it, she couldn't act like she wasn't madly, deeply, impossibly and irreversibly in love with Regina Mills.

"Emma? What's wrong?" Regina asked, worry settling on her face as she moved closer to the blonde. "What is it? Have you been to the doctor? What did he say?" she asked, questions falling from her lips one after the other but Emma barely heard them.

"I haven't been to the doctor, Regina..." she said with a smile.

"No? But you said you'd go. I'm worried, Emma, what if there's something wrong with your heart? It's better to know in time, maybe you need treatment..."

"I know exactly what was wrong with my heart. And there's only one treatment for it." Emma said, stepping up to the brunette and letting her fingers trace Regina's arm as she slowly ran them up to cup her cheek.

"What is it? Emma...?" Regina asked, eyes widening, voice coming out a bit breathless as she felt the blonde's touch on her.

"This." Emma whispered before she pressed her lips onto Regina's, kissing her with all the love that was in her heart. She heard Regina's surprised gasp right before the brunette kissed her back just as fervently and that was when a flash of magic exploded from them, leaving little sizzle like flutters in the air around them as they continued kissing, Emma letting out a relieved sigh of happiness as she felt her heart getting back to it's normal state with the difference that it was hammering away wildly in her chest. But that was okay because she knew she would have the same problem about acts of true love as before. Kissing Regina seemed to be the most perfect outlet for the love in her and she intended to use it as often as possible. And judging by the way the brunette was clutching at her, pulling her closer as if she couldn't get enough of Emma, Regina wouldn't have any objections either.

 **Thank you all for reading! Please let me know what you thought!**


	7. Trapped Together

**Hey everyone! Thank you all for the feedback all week long, this has been a great adventure and experience for me and I totally loved all of it so thank you for that! And also reading and seeing all the perfect, amazing creations that everyone did for SQ week! Swen ROCK! ;) I love you guys! So here's the final story, sorry for the delay I just didn't have any time to actually write it until now... But to make up for it, I'll update with one more oneshot, that one for the trapped together prompt as well...I have half of it written down but I wanted to finish it up nicely so check back for it tomorrow, if you're interested! And now, here's the story, I hope you'll like it! :)**

 _Disclaimer: I still don't own any of this..._

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 **SWAN QUEEN WEEK**

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 _Day 7-Trapped Together_

"You know, I'm not sure this is the best way to track down that... thing." Regina told Emma as they were making their way through the forest surrounding Storybrooke.

"We saw it disappear into the woods, we have to find it before it attacks the town again, people could get hurt." Emma argued.

"Yes but traipsing around with no plan or trace whatsoever isn't going to lead us anywhere. We don't even know what _it_ is that we're looking for, Emma. This is completely useless!" Regina said, throwing her hands up in the air in frustration and the blonde smirked.

"You're just trying to get me to go back because your heels are uncomfortable, right?" she teased and Regina shot her a glare.

"Please, I could go more in my heels than you in your boots, believe me." she said in her most queenly voice and Emma grinned, totally unconvinced. "But seriously, do you even have any idea where we are or which way we're going or is this just a nice little afternoon stroll?" Regina asked, looking around but before Emma could answer the ground seemed to move and then disappear from under them and they both let out screams of their own as they were thrown against each other and enveloped in a huge net then pulled up into the air.

"What the hell!" Emma yelled once they stopped moving and were just swaying from side to side up in the air.

"A trap. We literally just walked into a trap, Emma..." Regina growled and that was when the blonde noticed just how close they were forced in this net. Their legs were tangled together and one of Emma's hand and arm was stuck under Regina, making her literally lay on top of the other woman, chest to chest, their faces a few inches apart.

"I can't believe this... who makes traps like this, seriously?" Emma huffed, trying to pull her hand free and move away from the brunette because this really was not going to work, she couldn't think of anything else but how nice Regina smelled ands she wasn't supposed to think about things like that...

"The Merry Men, I'd guess." Regina muttered,kicking out with her legs, hoping to push herself up into some sort of a sitting position but only managing to brush up against Emma more.

"Could you...ugh, stop that, please?" Emma asked with a grimace, feeling her heart race as Regina's legs slid against hers, a foot moving up her ankle and shin and where was Regina's shoe anyways? She angled her head so she could take a look at the brunette's feet and then onto the ground where she saw one of Regina's heels, which was probably knocked off her foot when they got tangled into the net.

"You're the one who's lying on top of me, maybe you could try to change the position..." Regina said between gritted teeth, grunting as she pulled her leg only for a second before it was caught up in the net again. Laughter involuntarily burst out of Emma after her words and Regina looked at her as if she was insane.

"Change the position?" Emma giggled over the fact how dirty that sounded and that Regina probably didn't even realize it. "Okay, Regina. How about this?" she asked, grabbing the net behind Regina to get leverage and straining her muscles, she pushed herself away the best she could.

They wobbled around wildly for a long moment, arms and legs pushing at the net, both of them trying their best to find a better pose but after a while Regina just ended up being the one laying flat on top of Emma, her hands stuck in the rope around the blonde's head. "Better?" Emma asked cheekily and Regina glared at her.

"No, Miss Swan, not what I was thinking..." Regina growled and Emma was all to aware of the proximity of their bodies, the way Regina's breasts were pressed up against Emma's abdomen and her face was hovering above Emma's heaving chest.

"Then please show me how it's done, your majesty." Emma said in amusement, making Regina roll her eyes.

Then it was Regina's turn to move and she tried to actually climb the net, grabbing the rope around Emma's head and managing to pull the blonde locks in the process.

"Ow, ooow, be careful!" Emma said, grabbing at her temples and Regina fell back against her as she quickly let go of the ropes but didn't manage to grab another part and her hands slid out of the net again. Air rushed out of both of them from the impact with an 'oof' and Emma found herself face to... ehm, breast with the brunette. "Eh, Regina... maybe you could..." she said in a voice way to high for herself and Regina looked down with a chuckle.

"Eyes up here, Miss Swan." she teased and Emma couldn't believe her.

"Very funny, Regina." she muttered when the brunette finally moved and for a few minutes she actually thought Regina's plan to climb carefully would work, of course she wasn't about to tell that to the other woman.

But then as soon as Regina got to a point far enough from her, something in the balance seemed to change and with a series of grunts and groans from both of them, she was hurled forward and ended up literally straddling the brunette with one of Regina's hands landing on her boob and their foreheads pressing together.

"Ow...oh... hi." Emma breathed out, not daring to move one bit because their lips were just so close and did Regina's breathing just increase or was that simply because of the moving around...?

"Emma..." Regina murmured and it was so cozy up there, her lips so close to Emma's and it would be so easy, _so very easy_ to just close that distance, to just shift a little and brush up against them, just one taste, just one press of her lips against those plump ones she has spent so much of her time staring at or fantasizing about and woooah wait a minute there, Emma, what? Yeah, she really couldn't do that and had to stop this train of thought immediately...

Then Regina seemed to notice where her hand was and she blushed, moving her hand but ending up just embracing Emma instead and now there was really barely any space between their lips and Emma couldn't help but look down onto Regina's lips, her eyes lingering there even when she heard Regina's sharp intake of breath.

"Emma?" came the brunette's breathy voice and Emma finally dragged her eyes up only to meet darkened brown ones, Regina's pupils dilated and her gaze almost... lustful? And oh damn it, she couldn't help herself, she didn't even want to anymore... She just dove in and kissed Regina passionately.

When it occurred to her after a second that the brunette wasn't moving she felt panic rise up in her, oh shit was she making a huge mistake here? But before she could pull away and start to apologize profusely the brunette's lips finally melted against hers and she returned the kiss just as eagerly, the hand that was at Emma's back moving up to tangle in her hair and pull the blonde even closer.

"Hmm..sorry." Emma mumbled when they broke apart and she felt Regina's lips curl up into a smile against hers.

"I'm not." she murmured, stealing another kiss from Emma.

"Oh, not for the kiss. That was long overdue..." Emma grinned earning another eye roll from the brunette. "For taking off like this into the woods and dragging you with me." she said.

"That's okay, your 'hero instincts'..." Regina dismissed.

"Yeah, I call it, 'Let's impress Regina but end up doing something stupid instead'- instinct..." Emma muttered and Regina chuckled so sweetly that Emma's heart swelled.

"You sweet idiot..." Regina shook her head then she leaned up and kissed Emma again and again, completely forgetting about their problematic situation until someone cleared their throat just under them and they pulled apart with swollen lips and hazy eyes. They looked down to find Snow, David and Henry looking up at them with wide, surprised eyes or in the case of their son, a huge grin.

"About time..." Henry said with a wink.

 **Thank you for reading, please let me know what you thought! :)**


	8. Trapped Together 2

**Hi everyone! Thank you for all the glorious support and feedback this week! Here's the plus one story I promised, hope you'll like it! :)**

 _Disclaimer: I don't own it._

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 **SWAN QUEEN WEEK**

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 _Day 7- Trapped Together_

"Miss Swan, may I ask what the hell are you doing, poking around my basement?" came Regina's annoyed voice from behind her and Emma spun around, feeling awfully like a child caught with their hands in the cookie jar. Even though she actually had a reason for being down there.

"Henry asked me to bring up his roller skates, he said they were in a box on top of that cabinet." Emma pointed to the cupboard she was fiddling with.

"Henry doesn't own roller skates. He fell with his ice skates when we tried one winter and ever since he refused to put anything like that on his feet. He has a skateboard but that's upstairs in..." Regina's sentence was cut short when they heard the door to the basement close up with a loud bang and the unmistakable sound of a lock turning into place followed.

"Oh no..." Emma muttered while Regina strode up to the door and tried opening it and failed. There was a sound of key jingling and footsteps getting away and both of them knew instantly that this wasn't accidental.

"Henry Daniel Mills, open this door right away or so help me..." Regina yelled, the threat hanging darkly in the air and if it was Emma on the receiving end of it she was sure she'd pull her tail between her legs like a scared little puppy and make herself as small as possible. That voice coupled with the way Regina squared her shoulders and schooled her features into one of icy rage, brown eyes flashing furiously, was one of the most terrifying things the blonde have ever seen. She was half expecting Regina to start throwing fireballs any minute now but then again, of course it was their son. Regina would never ever hurt him. And sure enough, Henry was perfectly aware of that as well, that was why he had the nerve to pull a stunt like this. Emma would have never said it out loud, especially not when Regina was this mad because she was sure the brunette wouldn't spare her from the fireballs, but she was rather proud of Henry, he did it like a pro.

"Relax Regina, he'll let us out as soon as he gets hungry..." Emma grinned, plopping down into an old armchair.

"There's leftover lasagna in the fridge and enough ingredients for sandwiches for about two days." the brunette told her and Emma jumped up from the chair, striding across the room to bang on the door.

"Henry! Open this door now!" she shouted, her fist thumping on the wood.

"No moms! You gotta talk it out!" Henry's muffled voice sounded and to his credit at least he sounded a bit guilty.

"Talk what out?" Emma asked back, confused.

"Come on, your feelings... it's getting ridiculous." Henry said.

"What feelings?" Emma asked.

"Yeah that's what I mean... have fun!" Henry's voice sounded entirely too cheerful.

"Henry! HENRY!" Emma yelled but to no avail, their son was gone. She huffed, pushing away from the door in annoyance. "Can't you open it magically? Or teleport us out of here?" she asked, looking at Regina helplessly.

"No, this room is the only one in the house that's protected from all magical activity. I put a curse on it in case we needed to lock something magical away. We can't do magic in here and Henry knows that. He planned this out perfectly... there's no way out of here unless he opens the door."

"Great! Now what do we do?" Emma asked, looking around desperately, looking for a window or any other way out but of course there was none.

"We wait." Regina said and walked to a wooden rocking chair in one corner and sat down, slightly rocking in it, an almost peaceful expression instantly flooding her face, a small smile playing on her lips. Emma couldn't help imagining the brunette in the same chair many years ago with a baby boy in her arms, finally asleep after hours of wailing.

"Or we could... talk?" Emma suggested shyly, walking closer to Regina who shot a surprised glance at her. "Not like that... I mean...Just talk, maybe you could tell me some more about Henry's childhood. There seem to be a lot of memories stocked down here." she said, letting her eyes wander over shelves and cabinets and piles of boxes.

"Yes I guess there are." Regina nodded absent-mindedly. "But I don't know what I could tell you about..."

"Hmm... let's say, I pick am object and you tell me the story of it. How does that sound to you?" Emma asked, thinking of it as some game to pass the time with. "That is, unless you feel uncomfortable by this. We really don't have to if you do..." she added hastily after seeing Regina's uncertain look around.

"No, no... it sounds okay. I suppose there could be worse ways to spend our time down here than that..." she shrugged and Emma smiled.

"Great, so...hmm..." she walked up to a shelf as she thought, eyes lingering on some of the things there, thinking how many possibilities there were.

Regina followed the blonde with her eyes, holding back a smirk and just rolling her eyes at seeing how ridiculously excited Emma got over this game... She actually found her childish eagerness just a bit adorable to be frank, but she wasn't about to let Emma in on that.

"Okay, I want to know the story of this shoe." Emma finally decided, holding up a single baby shoe, dark green and faded. "For instance, where's the other one?"

"Probably on the bottom of the lake." Regina told her, a smile creeping onto her face at the sight of the shoe. "I actually cannot believe I kept that." she continued. "Henry had that, along with its pair, when he was about one and a half years old. His favorite color at the time was green and he wouldn't wear anything else... I actually couldn't believe how a one-year-old can be this picky but he seemed adamant so I bought him mostly green clothes. One day we went out to the park, I was pushing him in his stroller around the lake because he loved watching the ducks swim and he got really excited when one of them started to splash around and flew away and he kicked his legs and flailed his little arms around, probably trying to mimic the duck and that was when one of the shoes fell off his feet and went flying into the water." Regina chuckled, letting the memory overwhelm her and Emma just watched, completely enthralled by the story and how the brunette's face softened as she talked. "At first he was so amazed, he started giggling as it landed in the water but then he seemed to realize what happened and he was absolutely inconsolable, he was crying to desperately I had to buy him dinosaur-cookies to bribe him into stopping that afternoon. And the next day I had to go out and buy him another pair of green shoes because he wouldn't let me put anything else on his feet... Actually that pair might be around here somewhere too." she finished, motioning around with a wave of her hand before looking at Emma expectantly.

The blonde was frozen in place for a long moment, just lost in thought, imagining it all, putting it together with the already mostly faded fake-memories of baby Henry she got when they had to flee from Pan's curse. Then she felt Regina's eyes on herself and she snapped out of it with a smile, realizing she should pick out a new object. She set aside the little shoe, stroking it before letting it go and she went about searching for a new one, curious and impatient to hear another story.

"This one!" she said, holding up a red cape with the trademark Superman sign in the middle. "Please." she added when Regina raised an eyebrow at her.

"Henry started reading comic books when he was seven. I don't exactly know where it came from to him but one day he came home from school with a bunch of them and when I asked where he got them from he said he traded his lunch for them. I suppose I don't have to tell you how mortified I was to hear that, the Mayor's son having to trade his lunch for some cheap picture books... So I told him to return the books the next day and tell me which ones he wanted and I'd get them for him. That year he was obsessed with Superman, he told me he wanted to be Superman when he grew up and that in order to prepare for it, he'd want to dress up as him for the carnival at school and Halloween as well. He even drew me a picture of what his costume should look like, so what could I do? I sat down one evening and sewed one for him..."

"Wait, you can sew?" Emma asked incredulously.

"Uhum." Regina hummed in agreement and reached out for the cape. When Emma handed it to her she ran her fingers over the material. "He was so happy, he barely wanted to take it off..." she murmured.

Regina seemed so lost in her memories that Emma almost felt reluctant to go on but then she spotted a half open box a few feet away that made her lips curl up in a grin and she couldn't not ask about it...

"What about these?" she asked, kneeling beside the box and pulling out a few items of clothing, all of them having the same, weird, light baby pink color that she had never ever seen Regina wear.

The brunette actually laughed out loud when she saw what was in Emma's hands and she reveled in the sound, feeling like it should be cherished for the rare treasure it was.

"That is little Henry's first and only attempt at helping me with household chores." Regina said, her eyes twinkling in amusement. "He must have been about... five, I guess when one day when I was doing laundry he announced that he was a big boy and he would help me with work. I let him help sort out the whites and the colored ones but I forgot to check afterwards and that's how I managed to wash a pair of Henry's red socks with all our white clothes, creating this lovely shade of cotton candy pink..." she shook her head. "When he saw what happened, he asked me why everything was pink and I told him he must have put something red between the whites accidentally. I wasn't about to scold him, he was just child, he couldn't have known... And you know what he replied?" Regina grinned at Emma, who was sitting next to the box with her legs crossed, listening intently and waiting for Regina to continue. "He said he did put the socks there but not accidentally. He said he put his red socks with the white ones because he didn't want them to feel lonely in the colorful pile with no other socks there..." Regina laughed and Emma soon joined in, the image of innocent, sweet Henry so clear in his mind like she was there as well.

"That's so typically him, wanting to make everyone happy around him. Even if only his socks..." Emma said with a gentle smile. "Do you think that's what he's doing with us now?" she asked after a moment.

"What do you mean?" Regina asked back, sounding a bit confused.

"I suppose, when he locked us in here he had our happiness in mind as well, right?" Emma asked tentatively, knowing that this was a bit dangerous territory. She and Regina always had a fragile relationship, only very slowly becoming friends and trusting each other with lot of obstacles on the way. And there was always something she felt, something more... something that made her question her every word, every act around Regina, not wanting to make a fool of herself. Something that still made her do crazy stuff just to save or impress the brunette woman. Something that she couldn't put a name to, something she refused to think too much about and instead pushed to the back of her mind every time because she was sure Regina didn't feel it. And this friendship they had, she didn't want to ruin it with thinking about something that was probably nothing. What if her eyes lingered a little longer than usual on Regina's form when she entered the diner? Or on her hair when the sun shone on it or when the wind got caught up in it. What if her heart seemed to skip a beat when Regina smiled, when the other woman's brown eyes sparkled in excitement or glee? It was probably nothing. It certainly wasn't why Emma made it her habit to bring Regina lunch every other day. Or why she started to take her runs in the direction of the mansion. Or why she now had a longer text message history with the woman than anyone else. Or why she developed a strong dislike for Robin Hood. Or why she ended up breaking up with Killian just the week before after Regina pointed out some of his less than attractive traits that Emma somehow didn't seem to notice before... No it was nothing.

"I guess." Regina said and to someone who didn't know her as well as Emma did, she would have seemed unbothered by it all but the blonde saw there was something in Regina's eyes, just a flash of emotion that was quickly gone and replaced by a smirk on Regina's face. "He wanted us to talk and we're talking so he might as well let us out soon..." she added.

"Yes, well I doubt this is what he meant when he said talking." Emma murmured but when Regina shot her a questioning look she just averted her eyes and got up from the floor and made her way to a cabinet, opening the glass doors. "What's this?" she asked, pulling out a framed picture and it took Regina a few moments to recognize what she was looking at. It was a drawing but not one of Henry's, as the brunette first thought. It was something older and bringing up not so happy memories in her.

"I don't want to talk about that..." she muttered, turning her head down to stare at her lap. She really didn't mind sharing with Emma at all, but that was just something she wished she didn't have to think about. It was a drawing young Owen made before it all turned so wrong...

"Um, right. Sorry." Emma said, quickly putting it back where she found it and closing the cabinet and moving away to a different pile entirely. And that was when she caught sight of a few photographs shoved between books. She pulled them out and gasped, a huge grin splitting her face in two. "Oh my God, what are these?" she laughed, viewing them one after the other. They were photos of Regina and Henry, they were both dressed up in what seemed like Harry Potter costumes, making funny faces at the camera.

"What is it?" Regina asked, hearing her giggles and the brunette stood from the chair and walked over to her to see what she was looking at over her shoulder. "Oh... yeah, that was a few years before the curse broke. Probably the last time Henry and I really bonded over something..." she said, her voice taking on a sad edge to it.

"Regina..." Emma, letting her hands fall to her side, turned towards the brunette, only then realizing how close they were standing. She met Regina's eyes, feeling her heart beat in her throat. "I don't think I ever said this to you, but I should have... I'm sorry I threatened to take Henry away from you for that first year and a half, I really am." she said sincerely.

"I think it's safe to say we both did some very nasty deeds back in the day, Miss Swan." Regina said with a bitter smirk.

"Yes but... Henry is your whole world, he has been for much longer than for me and...being here, surrounded by all these stuff and hearing you tell these stories... I can't tell you how grateful I am that you feel like I'm worthy of sharing these memories with but it also reminded me of how hard you fought for Henry, how it was the one thing that could piss you off in an instant and I used to think you were just jealous and possessive...It never actually occurred to me at the time that what I was doing was threatening to tear your whole life apart..." Emma said, remorse and guilt flooding her, making her embarrassed of the way she acted.

"Emma you were just fighting back with what you had. It's not like I gave you much choice, I was hitting you everywhere I could..." Regina told her, bringing a hand up to squeeze the blonde's arm. "But thank you for saying this, I really appreciate it. For what it's worth, I'm sorry too and I'm just glad it worked out well and we ended up here today after all we've been through."

"It's crazy, right?" Emma smiled, not really believing that this was reality. Her life had changed so drastically since she came to this strange town.

"Indeed it is." Regina smiled back and Emma was lost in her eyes. For long moments neither of them broke the connection and Emma felt her pulse race.

"Regina? Can I ask you something?" she murmured, her voice sounding a bit hoarse all of a sudden and she quickly cleared her throat.

"Yes?" the brunette asked, something like...was it hope in her voice? Emma couldn't decide but it was too much for her, she felt she was very close to saying or doing something she shouldn't, something she'd regret later and she needed to distract herself with something. She needed to break this trance Regina put her in.

"Why do you have a book titled ' _Help! I can't use my blow dryer!'_ ?" Emma asked between new fits of giggles as she pulled the previously spotted thin handbook from the shelf. Regina's face flushed deep red as she grabbed the book from Emma and stalked away with it.

"I came from the Enchanted Forest in the eighties, Emma, we did not have anything electrical there... It took some time to get used to everything around here." she told the blonde, unamused.

"Right... and why the ' _Fishing for starters'_?" Emma asked, pulling another book from the shelf.

"I had a lot of time on my hands at first... I got bored and started looking for hobbies." Regina sighed as if there was absolutely nothing funny about it.

"Did you really try fishing?" Emma asked.

"Yes, I found it immensely boring." Regina shrugged and Emma just shook her head with a grin.

"You're unbelievable." she said and put the book back onto the shelf as well as the photos, save for one where mother and son were grinning widely at the camera. She secretly slid that into her pack pocket.

"Emma?" Regina's voice sounded from behind her and she thought she was caught stealing the picture but then the brunette spoke again, surprising her with what she said. "What do you think Henry wanted us to talk about?" she asked. Emma's throat became dry all of a sudden, her palms starting to sweat.

"I...I don't know.. I mean, I guess a lot has happened recently and... we're friends now and... just stuff." Emma stammered knowing she probably sounded like an idiot.

"Yes, maybe..." Regina trailed off, not sounding too sure and when Emma looked at her, she was nibbling on her lower lip, making the blonde groan internally because could she look any hotter?

"Why did you hate Hook so much?" the question fell from her lips without thinking and her eyes widened when she realized what she just said, schooling her features into unaffected neutral just in time as Regina's eyes snapped to her.

"I... well there were many reasons for that. He was arrogant, way too confident about himself and too pushy and annoying and completely useless." Regina listed, the reasons coming to her mind without end, her burning distaste for the pirate even surprising herself at first but then it became second nature to her. She never really liked him but after he started dating Emma her feelings developed into full blown hate for him, probably because she was forced to spend more time in his presence than before. Or at least that was what she was trying to tell herself...

"Some of that could be told of you as well..." Emma pointed out and Regina rolled her eyes.

"He also smelled badly and drank too much. He used more eyeliner than me! And he had a hook for a hand, for God's sake. Didn't you mind it when he kissed you?"

"He didn't kiss me with the hook." Emma replied, not willing to admit that it was a bit weird when it dug into her back as he hugged her, nor the fact that he wasn't the best kisser ever either.

"Yes well he used to be a villain and his morals didn't seem to change at all, just see what happened when you broke it off." Regina pointed out, hinting at the fact that the next night Killian was seen making out with some chick in the Rabbit Hole. "He didn't deserve you." she finished her little rant, seeming rather affected by it all and Emma felt her heart race as she listened. Because this all sounded so much like... Like Regina was jealous of him. But that couldn't be, right? There was no reason for her unless... Unless...

"Yes well, it seems like I have a thing for ex-villains..." Emma muttered.

"What?" Regina asked curiously and Emma thought she might as well come all out now and hope for the best.

"I guess it's up to me to decide who deserves me, isn't it?" she said instead of repeating herself, moving a step closer to Regina.

"Yes well, you broke up with him so I guess you did know better..." Regina huffed with a satisfied nod to herself and Emma fought the smile that was curling at the edges of her lips because the brunette looked so adorable.

"I guess I did." Emma nodded, stepping even closer, now standing only a feet away from Regina who was staring at her the whole time.

"So why did you, anyways?" Regina asked when Emma finally stopped.

"I had an interesting conversation.. well you could say, a fight with someone that made me realize some things." she said mysteriously, leaving it up to Regina is she would take the bait.

"What things?" the brunette asked and the tension between them just jumped up a level or five.

"That maybe... I didn't really want to be with him. Maybe not in the first place. That maybe I was actually crazy about someone else." Emma murmured, feeling hot all over as they stared into each other's eyes.

"Oh yeah?" Regina drawled and Emma nodded. "What was it you said about having a thing for...ex-villains?" the brunette smirked playfully, taking a deliberate step forward and right into Emma's personal space and it felt like all those years ago when they were fighting all the time except that this time instead of wanting to choke her, Emma wanted to kiss the other woman. Well truth be told, it did cross her mind a few times even back then but that wasn't the dominant desire in her...

"I tend to have naughty thoughts for them..." Emma teased, licking her lips deliberately.

"And who's on your mind these days?" Regina's brown eyes lingered on Emma's lips.

"Who's been there for quite a while now..." Emma admitted and Regina looked into her eyes again.

"How long?" she asked.

"Longer than I realized it." Emma whispered and saw something like amazement in Regina's eyes, like the brunette couldn't actually believe it could be her.

"And does this being crazy only go as far as naughty thoughts?" Regina asked shyly, making Emma grin.

"No. I'd do anything for them, and I feel like I can do anything when they're with me. Their smile lights up my world and I could listen to their voice for days and never get bored. And their eyes, oh god... I could gaze into them for the rest of my life. They're so intelligent and independent and beautifully complex it sometimes scares the crap out of me because I'm afraid they think I'm a complete idiot. But even like that it's worth it because my heart belongs to them. My heart belongs to you." she finished her little confession and there really was no going back now. Regina sucked in a deep breath and her mouth fell slightly open.

"Emma..." she breathed but then there was a noise to their right and suddenly the door to the basement opened, revealing Henry's face, who as soon as caught sight of them started grinning.

"Oh good, you talked!" he said cheerfully, sounding way too proud. "I guess you can come out now...But I can lock it back up if you want." he winked at them cheekily.

"Henry!" Regina scolded and Henry's beam faded just a bit.

"What? I'll be upstairs." he said then he disappeared, leaving the door slightly agape.

Their bubble burst, Regina stepped away and took a few steps towards the exit, making Emma's stomach sink. Would they ever talk about this? Did she just ruin their friendship? Was Regina only waiting for her to leave the safety of the magic free room so she could curse her?Or throw fireballs at her?

"Regina...?" she quietly called after the brunette, feeling crushed and hopeless. Her heart stopped as Regina halted and she held her breath, waiting to see what she would do. Would she ignore her, reject her completely? She wasn't sure if she could handle that actually... She just put her heart out there for Regina and if the woman stomped on it, she wouldn't be able to stand that.

The brunette spun around and without a word strode back to Emma and pulled her into a kiss that made her toes curl and a moan break free from her lips. Taking advantage of it, Regina deepened the kiss eagerly, her arms tightening around Emma, hands sliding up to tangle in blonde locks and Emma brought her hands around Regina's waist, splaying them at the small of her back and pushing the brunette's body impossibly close to hers.

There was a huge flash around them, light enveloping the whole room, accompanied by a loud bang and they broke apart, startled, both of them looking around.

"What was that?" Emma asked, confused.

Regina just put out her hand with her palm upside and in the next second a fireball appeared in her hand.

"What? No, Regina...I didn't mean to... I mean, you kissed me, you won't actually throw that at me, right?" she stuttered, stepping back and raising her hands halfway into the air and when Regina smirked in amusement she stopped. "What..?" she asked.

"I'm not going to incinerate you, Emma." Regina assured her and Emma relaxed visibly. "But I shouldn't be able to do this in here." she added and waited for it to reach Emma's mind.

"Oh, the curse. The no-magic curse... Did we just... did we break it?" Emma asked with a stunned look and a grin appeared on her face. "True Love's Kiss. Haha, suck it Robin Hood!" she laughed, punching into the air and Regina rolled her eyes.

"You're such a child." she muttered.

"But you love me like this!" Emma told her smugly and the smile on Regina's face told her she wasn't going to argue that.

She turned away again, starting for the door.

"Hey, where are you going?" Emma asked, reaching for her and grabbing her hand.

"Mom, Ma? Are you okay?" Henry's voice sounded and the door burst open, their son rushing in worriedly.

"Of course we are...we just broke a curse on this room." Emma grinned and realization dawned on Henry.

"Oh. Of course, it's True Love. I so knew it! Thank god I got you to talk..." he shook his head then left the basement again, leaving the two women to follow him.

"Let's go, Miss Swan!" Regina pulled on their entwined hands to get Emma to move. "I believe I have a boyfriend to break up with..."

 **And thaaat's a wrap for this Swan Queen Week! This has been absolutely fun and thank you all for the great experience! :) I hope you liked this one, please let me know what you thought! :) Thank you for reading!**


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